Bottleworks Barrow Street
Located on the threshold of Dublin's historic Docklands, Bottleworks is sensitively shaped by its context and boundaries.
Replacing a derelict factory, the design, with 3500m² of light-filled workspace, navigates the confined urban site to maximize daylight while minimising overlooking and overshadowing.
The 3 storey over double basement building is nestled into its context and built tight to the boundary on all sides. Courtyards are carved out of the building form in response to the context, providing oases of light and greenery to enhance the wellbeing of the building users. The introverted external expression conceals an interior of bright and airy contemporary offices, resulting in an object of architectural intrigue. At street level a plinth of black glazed bricks merges with the masonry of the surrounding garden walls and cottages. Above, the concrete frame is shrouded by a white veil of varying layers of opacity. This tapestry of perforate, fins and screens allow nuanced responses in privacy and daylighting to the differing conditions of the micro context.
Awards
The EUmies Award 2024
Nominated - European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture
RIAI Architecture Awards 2022
Workplace and Fit out
RIAI Architecture Awards
Public Choice – 3rd Place 2022
Irish Construction Excellence Award 2022
Commercial Project under €15m
[37,670 sq ft]
The predominantly single storey roof lit factory was replaced with a multi-storey workplace, maximizing the use and density of the city centre site.
The existing factory filled the entire site and abutted its residential neighbours on all sides with a solid wall. The architectural strategy was to replace the factory with a concrete frame of the same footprint that is punctuated by five courtyards. The heavily landscaped voids penetrate the spaces below ground to draw light deep into the heart of the building. In order to protect the privacy of the neighboring residents, the landscaped courtyards are veiled along the site's perimeter by a bespoke metal screen which is both functional and ornamental, allowing neighbors to benefit from bounced daylight, while preventing overlooking. The three storey volume above ground is partially concealed by a set-back of the top floor, simultaneously providing more space for planting and biodiversity on these lower roofs.
The new building is highly performant from an energy and sustainability point of view, operated without fossil fuels and providing bike parking facilities only. The intense landscaping of the courtyards contributes to the biodiversity of the area in what was previously an arid building.
