Short listed from the first stage of an international design competition run by the RIAI, to one of 6 entries, BCDH’s developed design for a new drama, dance and theatre department at the University of Limerick was eventually placed second overall.

Concept for a Performing Arts Village

The context: a campus set on a river plain, with pockets of woodland spliced onto a primitive field pattern, not a 90 degree angle in sight! The strategy: a densely planned trapezoid, highly transparent, a naturally tempered environment, the campus capturing views of work in progress, the internal spaces capturing views of the river, woodland and campus. A wonderful setting for a transparent architecture linking interior and exterior space. A window to the campus.

The Campus masterplan for the north shore posits a new form of building type, specifically set out to contrast and complement the existing facilities on the southern bank. This approach acknowledges the history and typology of the university buildings on the southern campus, while proposing a new and open strategy for the northern shore with the IWPAV acting as a cultural common room, responding to the Millstream Courtyard on the southern shore and linked to the South Campus by the proposed Living Bridge.

The IWPAV building will be a cultural crossroads and reception point. An asset both for the student and visitor.

A beacon on the bank of the Shannon, a jewel within the university.

In plan form, the building is an irregular rectangle with a curved swathe cut out along the southern façade, a dynamic sweep to the riverfront piazza and a welcome to the North Campus.

A gathering space.

This dynamic sweep connects our proposal to the new Health Sciences Building and responds to the Masterplan proposition of a Foothold Piazza by creating an arrival space and encouraging the sequence of external circulation, again envisaged in the Masterplan, allowing people to walk the streets and squares in the manner of a traditional university town. Simultaneously, a clearly defined atrium promenade of social routes and passages is established through our proposal, enhancing people movement and social activity across the campus, the convivial campus.

The proposal to phase the gradual development of the northern campus, as well as the IMPAV, allows for the development over a period of time of a new Piazzetta at the centre of the ‘conversation’ held at the confluence of IWPAV, Health Sciences and new faculty buildings proposed for the Northern Campus. A stopping- off point, en route to the new Citadel housing at the crest of the hill.

Our proposal establishes a strong rectilinear relationship with the Health Sciences Building contributing to the localised microclimate, giving shelter from the wet Westerlies and cold Northerlies. Again, this encourages the convivial campus envisaged in the Masterplan.

This arrival space provides a welcoming foothold on the northern shore, a new beginning.

General Approach

Our proposal for this new building can be read as a series of almost individual buildings or spaces within the organising structure of a village. A pedestrian route, purposefully open and clearly expressed, links all main spaces within the building and allows the user to walk through the village encouraging an interaction with the students, performers, and teachers alike.

A place to be, a place to find one’s voice.

The accommodation is assembled in a dense and deep plan, the top-lit streets assist in bringing daylight to all areas of the village complex.

The enclosure of the spaces held within can be interpreted as a sophisticated ‘shed’ or ‘warehouse’. Simply, but elegantly, finished in a sheath of glass, a shimmering skin to the south and east, unselfconsciously proclaiming the activities within the complex to the wider campus. A hive of activity.

In essence, our proposal contains two main levels of accommodation: Ground and First Floor both with mezzanines. Arranged around the perimeter of the building, all the studios, teaching and practice rooms benefit from natural light. From the outside these spaces can be transformed into private domains, from within there are views into all of them from internal circulation spaces. Every room is a stage. Every student: performer and audience. We aim to create an open environment where privacy is achieved in a subtle way through the definition of different areas and spaces. The balance of community and privacy. The balance of academic reflection and performance practice.

Internally, the village complex is a sturdy structure, an interior landscape that focuses on two broad corridor spaces or streets. These streets are much more than circulation routes; they are the social spaces of the complex. As the students will spend many hours a day within the complex they will need somewhere to relax and hang out. The streets will have lockers for personal possessions, seats and tables, exhibitions, notices and views out to the campus, the Citadel, Plassey House and the River Shannon. One street connects the Bridge Entrance to the south with the Piazzetta Entrance to the north, in the future this street may continue into the proposed Phase 3 Exhibition / Multi Purpose Hall. The east-west Street intersects the north-south Street at the Café, from there the east-west Street ramps to the Dance Studio 3 and then on to Dance Studios 1 and 2. A vertical promenade. Similarly in the future, the east-west Street may continue westwards into the proposed Phase 2 extension.

Behind the curved entrance façade, the building presents a literal cross-section of the village complex; on view are Dance Studios, Research Stations, Performance Theatre Space, Tutorial rooms and Studios. The internal pedestrian Street which traverses the building and links to the rest of the campus is expressed clearly at the front entrance. This sloping Street will allow access directly to all the main spaces of the building used by the faculty while also forming the “mainstreet” of the village.

The ramped circulation embraces the concept of accessibility. An emphatic endorsement of the Bealach principle built into the very essence of the proposal.

Performance Theatre 1

The 240 seat Performance Theatre 1 forms the concealed heart of the building. The theatre, used both for teaching and public events, is entered at Ground level on the floor of the theatre and from the ramped Street at a level coincident with the topmost bleacher. The Theatre is capable of adapting itself to a range of actor-audience relationships – Greek, proscenium, thrust, in the round – a multi-form stage.

Backstage cross over is provided via the set store and loading bay. An access gantry to the lighting grid location is provided with direct access from the Control Room. Load-in at stage level may be provided subject to adjacent ground conditions. A loading bay and set store is provided to the rear of the stage.

The control room at high level looks into the space. A service hoist and service stairs doubles as a backstage scene shifter, and circulation route for students and performers alike, and allows delivery of sets, props and equipment at every level of the building. A triple height backstage area links directly to the loading bay concealed at the rear of the building. Dressing rooms and support spaces generally are located nearby in shell-like pods, held within a common green room area. This serves both Performance Theatre 1 and Performance Theatre 2. Alternatively, a ground floor studio space could be used as a green room if required.

Performance Theatre 2

The 80 seat Performance Theatre 2 occupies a pivotal position at the centre of the building. If Performance Theatre 1 is the concealed heart of the Complex, then PT2 is the very visible public hub of the complex. Equipped with a new pipe organ, and provided with a series of drop-down/ sliding timber acoustic screens to enclose the space partially or fully as required. The enclosing screen has a perimeter of approximately 38 metres comprising individual screens of approximately 450mm. Each screen is hinged and pivoted and contains within itself a drop-down screen of equal height. When fully extended in plan and in section, the screens, stage and access doors are located in any desired position by not lowering the second vertical tier of two to five screens - giving a doorway of between 900 to 2250mm.

Dance Studio

The Dance Studios are located behind the curved ventilated glass façade, taking advantage of the southerly aspect overlooking the river. Three large rooms, with floor to ceiling glazing looking south over the river, are provided. Dance Studio 3 is located at Mezzanine level with visual links to Performance Theatre 2 below as well as to Dance Studios 1 & 2 on the First Floor. We have increased the floor to ceiling height of Dance 3 allowing the installation of a modified lighting rig so that this dance studio can double up as a rehearsal room. As required in the Brief, Dance Studios 1 & 2 are laid out so as to be sub-divisible, through the use of acoustic folding partitions, while maintaining their commanding views of River and Campus. All the dance studios will have specifically designed floors, natural ventilation and acoustical treatment in order to provide the highest quality working environment attainable. Fritted glass fins are located within the ventilated façade, to all Dance Studios, practice and other learning spaces to allow the occupants control over solar glare and privacy.

Studios

The 13 Studios are located on Ground and Mezzanine Floors off the main north-south thoroughfare. Again, glazed and translucent screens both to the external street and to the internal ramp allow for varying levels of privacy within these spaces.

Practice Rooms and Tutorial rooms

Practice and Tutorial rooms are modelled on the Studio spaces, but provide a more insular and discreet working environment. Raised onto the mezzanine and first floor levels, these rooms will afford their users views of the river, a calming and constant force to encourage their learning and practice.

Research stations

Our proposition for the Research area is a quietly active space, this integral part of the village complex is centred within the main spaces of the building, physically and visually linked to both the learning and performance parts. Acoustic screens will isolate the Research area as necessary.

Audio Visual Laboratory

The Audio Visual laboratory is held within the thick service wall of the main performance space, an internal room adjacent to all the primary functions of the complex.

Office space

Offices of varying sizes are accommodated on the first floor mezzanine, glazed walls, looking both east and west out over the campus. The Director’s Office and Meeting Room are located in a prominent position on the ground floor mezzanine adjacent to the main entrance and acts as a practical link to both learning and performance spaces.

Central storage

Ancillary and storage areas for Performance Theatre 1 and Performance Theatre 2 are provided adjacent to both performance spaces. There is a triple height backstage space at the rear of the main performance space with direct access to a loading bay. Additional space is provided at the ground level, for storage of foldaway banked seating, flexible seating, stacking chairs, equipment and instruments. Additional storage for musical instruments, music stands etc., is provided at ground and first floor levels to allow adjacency to both performance and practice spaces.

Common room

The common room or Café at the entrance foyer or “hearth” of the building provides a starting point to the broad array of cultural opportunities presented within the village complex. A notional location is indicated for an expected catering concession.

A place of arrival and meeting.

Acoustic Performance / Lighting / Projection / Recording

Provision has been allowed for the development of locally tailored acoustical environments within the building. The structural solution combines the sound-isolating qualities of mass concrete with cavity construction using precast panels to allow for realistic isolation between individual spaces. Various treatments of walls are facilitated to cater for acoustic requirements of particular spaces. Speech and drama, dance and music have differing needs in this regard.

The multi-functional use of the building and its spaces reflects the brief and the aspiration is to create a building comprising individual spaces which can adapt to different uses over time. A flexible design approach has been adopted in order to allow a degree of duality, a measure of multiplicity, in the use of individual rooms. The use and application of hard and soft surfaces within the same space allows the user to adjust the space to meet individual requirements in addition to enabling a variable acoustic environment or signature through the use of simple devices.

The latest technological back-up will be proposed in the design/ control of lighting rigs, sound, visual projection and recording techniques. Electrical services for the building will include structured cabling to allow for the maximum cross fertilisation of technological advances.

The envelope to the south comprises a fully glazed ventilated façade with an inner layer of low emissivity glazing. The space between the inner and outer glazed facades captures the heat from solar gain, creating bupyancy, with the warm air the rising through the glazed stack and discharging through the louvers at the top. The glazed void is ventilated at top and bottom via motorised louvers. Solar glare control is by remote controlled fritted glass louvers located within the glazed void.

Intermittent glazed opening panels are provided along the internal length of the façade to facilitate access for maintenance.

The outer sheath of glass is continued from the south elevation onto the east elevation. The smaller practice and teaching spaces behind this façade do not demand the level of complexity required to the large spaces to the south, hence the sheath acts here as a rain screen to a more conventional partially glazed, partially solid and partially translucent façade. Again, solar gain is trapped in the cavity, creating buoyancy, with the warm air then rising through the stack and discharging through the louvers at the top. Glare control is by sliding louvred screens, natural ventilation is by simple opening sections.

Our ambition is that internal and external facades act together to enhance the depth of the building complex, built-in multiple spatial layers. We suggest that differing materials and surface treatments will achieve multiple and changing transparencies.

The creation of a light, spacious and inviting Performing Arts village, providing a unique environment for students, staff and the general public demands a fresh, objective appraisal of the various factors involved. The building services design will focus on low energy, low maintenance, sustainable solutions, while providing a quality working environment through the maximum use of natural day lighting, ventilation and solar control.

It is proposed to ventilate the principle spaces using the natural force of prevailing winds. Air enters through louvers facing the wind at roof level. This air is then heated or cooled via a water-to-air heat pump linked to the River. Through vertical shafts, air enters the rear area of each principle space. This air is then drawn across the room into the glazed cavity discharging out the top of the ventilated façade.

Performance Theatre 1 will be heated and ventilated by a mechanical ventilation system designed to provide adequate fresh air for the 240 occupants while achieving a NR25 noise rating.

The remaining spaces within the building will be naturally ventilated with heating provided by an underfloor heating system.

We will consider all the energy, resource and material flows that will affect, or be affected by the new building. Energy, air, water, waste, recycling, material selection, construction methods and efficient energy supply management will all be considered. Decisions will be made which may have a greater initial cost but which are better economically and environmentally in the long term.

The primary focus is on the energy demand of the new building as it will have a life of at least 60 years and the occupants will have to pay the increasing energy costs over this period. The EU Energy Performance Directive requires Energy Performance Certificates to be available for all buildings from 2006. The results of our decisions will be assessed and in the public domain for all to compare and critique.

The proposed EU Emissions Trading Directive will provide a mechanism for the Irish Government to implement the Climate Change targets. A fundamental component would involve a Carbon Energy Tax, scheduled to commence in 2005 at an estimated levy of EUR20 per tonne of CO2. Our design team will focus on achieving and surpassing the building heating energy target of 11kg of CO2/m² per annum.

Structure

The structural proposal is a straightforward one. Dance Studios 1, 2 and 3 sit on in-situ cast concrete tables resting on a grid of concrete columns, a lightweight steel structure supports a lightweight roof enclosing the Dance Studios. Elsewhere the structure is steel framed with precast concrete floors. Wall infill to the steel structure varies between precast concrete separating walls and lightweight weatherproof panel infill. Should current values for steel continue, alternative structural solutions, such as pre-cast concrete loadbearing walls, will be considered In the case of Performance Theatre 1, a steel structure facilitates the construction of a box within a box, both boxes of lightweight infill panel with a lead-impregnated acoustic separation membrane.

In considering the brief requirements, we have made a proposal for the future expansion of the IWPAV. A system of streets running north-south and east-west with Performance Theatre 1 at its heart is proposed for the three phases of the IWPAV. This street system supports the Masterplan proposition of ‘atrium circulation routes’ where students, staff and visitors can stroll through an internal sequence of social routes or ‘passages’. This enables clement circulation but also encourages permeability across the campus.

The phase two building to the West of the phase one building will provide approximately 4200 square metres over two to three floors, developed to the west of the first phase building. It is hoped that, brief depending, the line of trees along the western site boundary will be retained. It is envisaged that the sweeping glazed façade will be continued westwards both to unify this extension into a larger homogenous village and as a dramatic gateway to the North Campus.

A new building comprising a multi-purpose hall and an exhibition area to a total area of approximately 1000 square metres is proposed to the North of the phase one building. This will be linked by an open external covered route. The Exhibition Hall will have a main entrance from the new Piazzetta formed at the northern end of the Health Sciences Building.

Hard & Soft Landscaping

The IWPAV will sit on a slightly raised plinth above the sweeping planted and hard landscaped areas of the new Piazza, looking south to the protected conservation area beside the river. We envisage this external space as an extension of the Village and a popular venue for impromptu performance.

The line of existing trees to the west is retained and supplemented .

New lightweight deciduous planting, landscaped berming and raised banking on the north side will assist to blend the building into its environment when viewed from the north and west. On the street side, selected trees and planting, together with appropriate hard landscaping with benches will provide an active and pleasant thoroughfare for all users.

The building is located south of the new car park to be constructed adjacent to the spine road for the North Campus. New footpaths link this car park to the northern campus, and pass through and around our proposed building, with links to the streets within. A new access way from the spine road will lead to a loading bay at the rear of the building, allowing for service deliveries to the IWPAV and future phases 2 and 3.