GE Capital Woodchester
GE Capital Woodchester wished to develop a building to house their expanding European Customer Services Centre. The building is mainly a call centre resulting in a heavy cooling load, normally requiring full air-conditioning. The client had expressed an interest in a low-energy building.
Awards
Best Corporate Workplace
British Council for Offices
2000
Best Internal Landscape & Innovation in Mechanical Services
ALPI & ACEI
2000
Selected for Exhibition
Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland
1998
Client
GE Capital
Location
Dublin 2, Ireland
Status
In Use
Area
2,800 sq.m
Expertise
Scott Tallon walker rose to the challenge by designing on the principle of using the mass of the structure for thermal cooling. Designed on three levels around a large central garden atrium, the reinforced-concrete frame and precast floor slabs with smooth coffered soffits forming the ceiling act as the thermal fly wheel.
Ventilation is by displacement with heat recovery through an air/air heat exchanger. The building won the Best corporate workplace award from the British Council for Offices and the innovation in M&E services award from the ACEI for the low energy design strategy.