Guinness Enterprise Centre, Dublin

Commercial Building of the Year - Irish Construction Excellence Awards 2022
NZEB
Best in Show & Best Fit Out - Fit-Out Awards 2021
Ber B Rating
Best Small Office Fit Out - Fit-Out Awards 2021

Commercial Building of the Year - Irish Construction Excellence Awards 2022
NZEB
Best in Show & Best Fit Out - Fit-Out Awards 2021
Ber B Rating
Best Small Office Fit Out - Fit-Out Awards 2021

The Taylors Lane site in Dublin 8, once a mill race fed by the River Poddle, was acquired by Guinness and generously gifted to the community as a 3,000m² enterprise hub. An opportunity to modernise and expand the building, including the addition of a rooftop extension, was won via a competitive design process.

Key facts

Location The Liberties, Dublin
Client Guinness Enterprise Centre
Project Enterprise & Innovation Hub
Scale 6,100m²

The Challenge

The interior fit-out focused on celebrating the warehouse’s functionality by highlighting its original historic features. Instead of adding new embellishments, a portion of the budget was allocated to exposing, cleaning, and repairing the existing brickwork, zigzag roofline, and steel structure. These elements serve as a strong backdrop for the new minimalist design.

The Story

The Guinness Enterprise Centre secured €10 million in additional funding to expand its capacity from 65 start-ups with 400 staff to 160 companies with 750 staff. For Reddy A+U, reimagining the building was a pivotal project, drawing on our experience with innovation and enterprise hubs to help realise the GEC's vision of creating a world-class innovation hub in Dublin 8.

The Outcome

Drawing inspiration from the site's heritage, Reddy A+U crafted a vibrant design that blends modern steel and glass facades with the industrial context. Salvaged steel from the existing roof structure was repurposed for the reception desk and hot desk areas. The design intentionally exposed new structural elements, such as the spliced column sections on the upper floor. These exposed steel columns are echoed in the fourth-floor corridor, creating a rhythmic pattern that serves as a backdrop for communal breakout and coffee points.

Case study - Retrofit & Decarbonisation

An in-depth look at our refurbishment and extension of the Guinness Enterprise Centre.

1 . Strategy

The first of our retrofit case studies was the refurbishment and extension of the Guinness Enterprise Centre, an innovation and start up hub in Dublin 8.

The challenge set was to propose interventions which could upgrade the building to a level of 65 kWh/m2.yr whilst also being able to provide a business case to support this.

The warehouse building was 3,000 m2 in area over three storeys and partly reconstructed in the 1990’s using a steel frame and traditional masonry construction.

2 . Environmental

Reddy A+U and M and E Engineers EDC first took the data available for the existing building and developed this into an energy model. This shared parameters on energy use intensity of 160 kWh/m2.yr, an air leakage of 10 and u-values commensurate with the minimum building regulations required at the time of construction.

Once the energy model had been developed by EDC, a series of interventions were considered which examined the change and the architectural implication of doing so.

3 . Implementation

The findings were summarised in a simplified chart, developed to support decision making by the GEC Client team and to give any additional data for approvals. Finally, an option to add renewables was applied which took the EUI from 65kWh/m2.yr to zero. This was based upon the ability to apply PV panels to the new flat roof of the building, and with a green roof to the remainder.

The Reddy A+U process developed a toolkit which generates results and interventions based on data from the building analysis.

It’s fair to say the greater the level of Client data and input, the more effective and accurate the results. In the event the amount of available data is limited or concise, the tool can quickly set up a framework that Reddy A+U refine for particular areas providing our clients with more accurate findings.

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