Client Dublin Port Company
Location Dublin, Ireland
Architect Dunwoody & Dobson and Darmody Architecture
Value €5 million
Making Dublin Port Centre more accessible to the city
About the project
A major landmark in Ireland’s capital, Dublin Port Company is transforming its headquarters at Dublin Port Centre (DPC), Alexandra Road into a modern, low-carbon workplace. IN2 is delivering full MEP and Sustainability design for a major renovation including an upper-storey extension that replaces the existing mechanical plant, upgrades the building fabric and embeds real-time energy performance across the estate. This redesign comes as part of a major decarbonisation push that will eliminate the buildings reliance on fossil fuels, replacing these with sustainable, innovative solutions ensuring high efficiency performances coupled with a high level of seasonal resilience and optimal year-round comfort.
IN2’s mechanical services signal a sustainable low carbon future for DPC, via roof mounted Air Source Heat Pumps. The building is also district-heating-enabled offering a further potential reduction in running costs and associated carbon, once the Dublin District Heating System (DDHS) comes online. Until then, the space heating and hot water that is powered by 4-pipe Heat Pumps (generating simultaneous heating and cooling) and a 2-pipe Reversible Heat Pump. This system was located on the new roof (following the upper floor extension), allowing different zones of the building to be heated or cooled at the same time; ideal for mixed-use buildings such as DPC. The mix of 4-Pipe & 2-Pipe Heat pumps allows for additional flexibility, energy efficiency and seasonal resilience, without over-sizing of the central plant. By optimising the system in such a manner, IN2 has been able to achieve a Total Efficiency Ratio (TER) in excess of 8.
IN2 were also responsible for DPC’s ventilation strategy which brought up unexpected challenges. IN2 were engaged to evaluate effectiveness of a natural ventilation solution to the office areas. IN2 utilised Dynamic Simulation Modelling (DSM) to calculate and hourly internal comfort profile for each office based on this natural ventilation solution. However, due to the port cargo & shipping operations, DPC experiences very high levels to dust throughout the year. DPC are required to continuously monitor and measure the dust levels throughout the port. In order to give the client a true ‘real world’ assessment of the building natural ventilation, IN2 needed to combine the site Thermal, Solar, Wind Conditions and site historical dust recordings to predict the actual future efficacy and usability.
The combination of these complex simulations determined that while the building would perform adequately from a theoretic thermal comfort point of view, the instances of unacceptable concentrations of dust would result in the users manually closing the windows (to protect belongings etc) so frequently that a natural ventilation solution alone would not be effective throughout the year. To that end, IN2 proposed a mixed mode solution i.e. utilising natural ventilation for fresh air (and to reduce mechanical fan power) whenever the conditions allowed, but to also supplement the fresh air & cooling with local decentralised Heat Recovery Units (HRUs) & Fan Coil Units (FCUs). With the introduction of Variable Air Volume control, IN2 ensured that the mechanical ventilation system will only operate in individual rooms, when the window openings are closed.
Another concern was related to the building itself. Built in the 1980s, coupled with the additional floor added to the roof level, the structural engineer was very concerned and cautioned against the introduction of any additional gaps in the building structure. Therefore, the coordination and proposed routing of all the M&E services needed to be done with extreme caution, and any drainage work to the lower ground floor area posed extreme difficulties. IN2 successfully navigated these challenges and, despite them, delivered a full decarbonisation strategy.
Other decarbonisation M&E design features include a complete electrical and lighting redesign with smart controls. IN2 also proposed the inclusion of photovoltaic carports across the entire car park areas. The PV system generates up to 4,00 MWh/year and has been integrated with the BMS to capture quarter-hourly data, and provide transparent performance reporting for LEED certification and SEAI grant requirements.
Dublin Port Centre demonstrates IN2’s capability to combine deep building-physics insight with rigorous coordination and compliance, delivering resilient, efficient workplaces for mission-critical clients.
