Completed to LEED Gold standard, this grade A, open-plan office building benefits from a full-height glazing system designed to optimise natural light and create a connection with the adjacent parklands.
Designed to achieve a high BER rating of B1, the approved air-tight building consists of flexible office and production accommodation along with highly energy-efficient HVAC services cleverly designed to enhance the high-tech look & feel of the space. The stunning reception and atrium area features double-height windows, bathing the space in natural light.
Fewer Harrington & Partners were engaged to provide the IDA with an approximately 3,150m² Advance Technology Building with associated car parking, site services, landscaping, related works with additional lands adjoining the site (to offer the opportunity for expansion).
Designed to achieve LEED accreditation, the building consists of approx. 1,751m² production space with a parapet height of c. 10.1 metres. The ancillary office space over two floors comprising approx. 1,167m² is fitted out to include raised access floors, suspended ceilings, lighting, heating, air conditioning, finished toilets and common areas.
The building has a modern, business park standard façade treatment of glass, steel and architectural panels in a number of planes. The design intent was to fully wrap the production/light industrial area envelope with the office, core & plant uses. This allowed us to provide the modern façade to the two main elevations.
To distinguish the main entrance, we recessed the glazing to provide a feature entrance. We have maintained the roofline overhead, allowing the slimline floating roof to provide a dramatic covered entrance to the building. A collonade feature to the open-plan office elevation with recessed glazing provides solar shading to the office area. The colonnade finishes to the underside of the roof soffit which is a continuation of the slimline floating roof over the main entrance.
There is an external courtyard provided to the northwest elevation, which allowed us to provide windows overlooking this area from the smaller open-plan offices. The design evolution, the introduction of different vertical planes of materials, the stepping back of the entrance, colonnade and courtyard with the introduction of glazing and a variation of high-quality materials and finishes assisted in breaking down the overall bulk, mass and scale of the development.
We carried our design principles to all elevations of the building and used quality materials throughout. All facing materials are maintenance-free and will carry a ‘long life’ guarantee on the performance and colour retention of their external appearance. The use of glazing within the stepped planes of the colonnade, the recessed feature entrance and the slimline floating roof of the building draws the eye.
Parkmore Business & Technology Park is occupied by many high-end manufacturing and international services clients and our recent project for the IDA is in response to the growth and demand in this area of Galway.
