Fingal County Council's library and one-stop shop in Baldoyle, opening today, is a civic statement in an area that needed it, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.
Making a contemporary civic statement in a suburban setting is something of a challenge. Bucholz McEvoy rose to it with Limerick County Hall in Dooradoyle and now FKL Architects has won an award for Fingal County Council's library and local area office in Baldoyle.
The €1.1 million project, which is being officially inaugurated today, occupies a site on Strand Road with panoramic views stretching from Portmarnock Golf Club to Ireland's Eye, Howth and its harbour.
Everything around is low-rise, even the village's neo-classical church.
FKL wanted to inject a bit of urbanism into the context, but without going any higher than two storeys because they didn't think it would be appropriate, according to Paul Kelly, who led the design team. But he believes the building still manages to "announce its presence" in more subtle ways.
The Strand Road elevation has a big picture-frame window at first floor level, projecting 1.5-metres beyond the façade of the old library (a one-time RIC barracks), while the entrance front has a granite-paved forecourt with stainless steel bollards - some of which are already stained by salty air.
FKL intended that the building would make a civic statement and, quite clearly, it does. In giving it an RIAI award last week, the jury cited its "concise detailing and clarity in planning", saying its interplay of volumes at the end of a 19th century terrace made "a wonderful public building on a small scale".
The project had already won an AAI award in 2003, long before it was built.
One of the jurors, critic Deyan Sudjic, said it would "inject a sense of freshness into a modest suburban background". But another AAI juror, architect Mark Turpin, wondered if they would get away without using roller shutters.
FKL conceived of its new construction as forming "a loop that begins and ends with Ireland's Eye". One end of this "folded concrete tube" is focused on the forecourt while the other end, after turning back on itself as it were, is the framed view looking out to sea from the meeting room at first-floor level.
The view is so captivating that eyes are bound to wander at any public meetings held here - and the same will be true of the exhibition space in its undercroft, where the laminated glass runs from floor-to-ceiling on two sides. An opalescent panel just inside will be illuminated at night.
The main entrance is through a timber screen, framed by the concrete structure of the "tube". As with its first-floor end-piece, including the soffit, this is clad in Portuguese granite, which is somewhat warmer than the grey Chinese granite used to floor the exhibition space and the forecourt.
There's an office for the chair of Fingal County Council's local area committee, another room for councillors to make phone calls or plug in their laptops, and a public counter at first floor level, offering "one-stop-shop" access to council services. A lift had to be installed to cater for disabled users.
The L-shaped library is housed on the ground floor of the old building, with its children's section looking into a sunny little courtyard which may be landscaped with a single tree. Its old entrance, via a porch on Strand Road, now functions as an emergency exit. Upstairs, there are offices and a kitchen.
Well built by Frank Courtney, who lives locally, the building makes good use of a very tight site. Much of the new space is circulation, including a staircase lit by a long rectangular rooflight. The need to avoid overlooking of semi-detached houses to the rear meant that windows were out.
Concrete is left exposed throughout the new building - there are no suspended ceilings, for example - but oak panelling is also used, notably on the walls and ceilings of the first-floor meeting room.
This is actually flooring material and was "a cheap way to give the interior some warmth", as Kelly says.
If there is one criticism that could be made, it was voiced by architect Angela Brady, another member of the AAI 2003 jury. As she said, it would have been much better if the uses were flipped around, locating the library in the new building, where the public would get the benefit of its panoramic views.
The council is pleased, however. "We've learned by experience that we communicate messages about ourselves through everything we do. In this case, the message of openness delivered through a commitment to the best quality of contemporary architecture could not be clearer."
Now, perhaps, the council's traffic engineers might devote some attention to devising a scheme for traffic calming in Baldoyle. Even in mid-afternoon, there is such a constant stream of cars on Strand Road that it has become almost as difficult to cross as its namesake in Sandymount.
