Elm Park, Dublin
Bucholz McEvoy Architects

A new urban mix area extending over 100,000 m2 near Dublin is intended to be a low energy high use density design. 

It is made up of six eight storey buildings and has a 33,000 m2 commercial and office area, 332 residential units and 100 apartments for senior citizens, a private hospital, a hotel, a leisure centre, a swimming pool, a restaurant and a state of the art conference centre. The combination of different uses ensures a continual flow of life on the site. Elm Park is to this day the largest project of its type in Ireland. Architects have designed a continual garden covering the ground levels. A green lung for the city. The buildings are designed for minimum impact on the landscape and define several sectors within this garden with patios built on a north south axis. Each building has its own character, including different views of the mountains and providing reference points in the overall scheme. A dedicated unloading area is located in the northern area and the actual parking site is located under the garden. Linking all the buildings the public space is seen as a place for informal meetings equipped with common equipment, cafes, small bookshops, spaces covered by textile canopies.
Elm Park is exclusively for bicycles and pedestrians. The human scale of the buildings and spaces deployed in a comfortable manner provide a good relationship with the environment. The low profile of the buildings permits natural lighting and ventilation, with views onto the mountains and the sea. Intensive use is made of wood as a structure and covering. The modular system of the façade and many parts in prefabricated concrete (walls, stairs, etc.) meant less time on the work site and increased quality. The design includes a combined system of electricity and heat production as well as wood chip boilers. Excess heat can be stored in the swimming pool, or used to heat the flats in the evening or the offices during the day. Architects Merritt Bucholz and Karen McEvoy have defined an integrated approach which perfectly incorporates the structures, technologies, environmental protection measures, the ecology and the landscape in the design phase.