BORD Gais hq 

 

This competition proposal was conceived as a series of interconnected spaces that define a new spirit for Bord Gais. The complexities of the brief have been considered in their entirety to provide an overlapping schedule of accommodation that realise the ambition of the Client brief. The result describes a new Headquarters building for Bord Gais that can change and expand to meet the oscillating requirements of the Client.

 

Given the size and complexity of the brief, we have sought to develop a series of program strands or seams that wrap the various spaces of the building together in a unified way, while at the same time, concerning ourselves with providing individual spaces with character and clear identity.The building has been designed as to become a marker or ‘milestone’ along the Northern Cross Route whilst also addressing the adjacent development site through appropriate scale and proximity. We are interested in being able to facilitate pedestrian connections between the new Bord Gais building and the adjacent buildings through the provision of a sloped ramp along the front (East) boundary of the site; in this way, the building addresses the immediate setting whilst at the same time allowing for physical screening to the car-parking and associated delivery facilities integral to the Client brief.  By situating the building to the southern end of the site, an extension of the building line and physical edge is allowed along St Margaret’s Road whilst also creating residual space for future extensions to the building along the northern edge of the site when demand requires such.

 

Technically, the building will perform to the highest energy and sustainability standards; merging a web of architectural spaces with building elements that advance current building performance criteria through their inherent character and qualities. In this way, we consider that the building will become a distinguished addition in its setting, whilst establishing a clear statement of intent of how Bord Gais see themselves as a responsible provider of a future sustainable vision. The physical form of overlapping planes and interconnected spaces helps demonstrate how such a vision can be realised.

 

Design : Jason O'Shaughnessy (Architecture 53seven)