MERO-SCHMIDLIN (UK) PLC. - Fingal County Council Offices, Blanchardstown, Ireland

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_ Construction Systems _ _ Roofs _ _ Building Envelopes _ _ Facades / Curtain Wall _ _ Canopies _ _ Towers _ _ Atria _ _ Other _ Curtainwalling _ Raised Access Floors	_ .	Fingal County Council Offices Blanchardstown, Dublin, Ireland The main feature of the new offices for Fingal County Council is it’s central glass atrium that cuts through and links all four main office blocks together to provide a light and airy glazed internal street environment. The striking atrium enclosure stands at 17.5m high, 23m wide and 119m long, and is almost entirely self supporting from the ground. Constructed from almost 9500 tubes and over 2500 nodes, the resultant appearance is one of a very lightweight and minimal structure. By using countersunk rotules with the point fixed glazing, the facades are totally flush and smooth, whilst the canopies that protrude out of the facades feature huge cantilevers that continue the theme of minimal structure. At the main entrance, the facades meet to form a tight angle, forming the distinctive and striking entrance lobby to the building. Surrounded by a landscaped pool, the building is reached via a large canopy and bridge, also provided by MERO, from the main pedestrian plaza. The canopy cantilevers out almost 5m past the two slender columns, and features hidden supports to the ‘floating’ bridge. The glazing to the facades uses a single flush point fixing in each corner of the panel, fixed back to specially designed cast stainless steel spiders, which are in turn bolted into the nodes of the supporting spaceframe. To the roof, MERO installed a galvanised metal tray on top of C channel purlins spanning between nodes. This provided a solid base for the internal and external roof finishes being installed by other trades, without the need to fix directly to the spaceframe. The spaceframe is bolted down to the ground in just 41 locations, enhancing the floating appearance of the facades. For the canopies, the architectural intent called for square, un-rounded corners to the steelwork, ruling out standard RHS or SHS sections, so two C channels were welded together along their length to form these sections, with the stainless steel gutter downpipes hidden inside. [Download this project as a PDF document]
_	_ Project Title:	_ Fingal County Council, Blanchardstown Offices, Dublin Curtain Walling and Spaceframe package _
_	Scope of Works:	Spaceframe structure, facade glazing and roof decking to street linking four intersecting office buildings _
_	Cladding Details:	2636m² total point fixed glazing, split as: 1984m² glazing comprising 10mm Ipasol 67/34 natura toughened outer pane, 16mm airspace, 6mm clear float toughened inner pane, countersunk M16 rotules factory bonded into panel 652m² glazing comprising 10mm clear float toughened outer pane, 16mm airspace, 6mm K glass toughened inner pane, countersunk M16 rotules factory bonded into panel All glass heat soak tested 1950m² Tegral D35 x 0.9mm galvanised roof deck 100m² curved standing seam roof to canopies. _
_	Steelwork Details:	MERO KK tube and node spaceframe, factory painted RAL9002 20% gloss. Module 1.875m x 1.875m with a depth of 0.9m to the facades and 1.0m to the roof. 9,416 tubes with diameters between 60.3 and 127 CHS, total length 16,510m, total weight 69 tonnes 2,522 nodes with diameters between 110 and 180, total weight 11 tonnes. 3 No. Canopies painted RAL 7012: Edge beams formed from two 200x75x23 PFC’s welded together, 260x90PFC gutters, 100x100 SHS Cross bracing, and 150x150 SHS purlins to the curved insulated standing seam roof cladding. _
_	Year of Completion:	2004 (Blocks 1&2), 2005 (Blocks 3&4) _
_	Contract Duration:	25 months _
_	Client:	Fingal County Council _
M_ERO UK	Architect:	Scott Tallon Walker _
_	Main Contractor:	Michael McNamara & Co. _
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