Trinity Business School

About the Project

Trinity Business School is a landmark development in which natural ventilation, daylighting and on-site generation help deliver an outstanding educational space whilst supporting the university’s decarbonisation agenda. This project involved a new build, as well as the refurbishment of existing buildings for student accommodation. 

IN2 was appointed following a qualitative tendering procedure as mechanical and electrical design consultants on this unique project, having outlined our vision of the building as maximising both energy efficiency and internal comfort. 

Engineering excellence and passive design 

Trinity Business School stands as an exemplar of IN2’s commitment to engineering excellence. At its heart of its design is sustainability and conservation, both of which won it the coveted Sustainable Award for a Single Building or Development from the Irish Construction Industry Awards in May 2021.  

The overall refurbishment of TBS was an ambitious undertaking, transforming every facet of the business school including student accommodation and educational areas. Key non-negotiable design principles included the adoption of passive techniques including natural daylight and ventilation, supplemented by renewable technologies in the form of PV panels,  all with the aim of delivering a low energy building aligned with TCD’s decarbonisation goals.  

Conservation principles were applied to the 6 protected structures adjacent to TBS’s new building: IN2 also integrated new M&E installations to the historic fabric within these buildings  

A multi-functional space to study, socialise, and recuperate 

TBS supports a growing entrepreneurial culture among Trinity’s students and faculties, drives job creation in the city centre, and helps position Dublin as a global role model for innovation and start-up enterprises. Supporting those goals required investment in making the school a comfortable and attractive environment for all those who use it.  

Spanning some 12,200m2 with 6 storeys above ground and 2 below, the new Business School includes a 600-seat auditorium, lecture theatres, an innovation hub, post-graduate office spaces, smart classrooms, a rooftop campus conference room, and public spaces where students can meet and exchange ideas.  

At the core of the TBS building is a triangular atrium that is flooded with natural light and ventilation, providing a source of clean, tempered air in the heart of the building and for adjacent classroom spaces.  

Effective ventilation through passive design 

In order to augment the atrium in providing a comfortable temperature within the business school whilst also ventilating in a draught-free manner, IN2 designed double skin facades to be placed at both the Pearse Street and the campus sides of the building.   

Advanced building simulation techniques, including dynamic simulation modelling (DSM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), were conducted to ensure the most efficient passive design for the double skin facades, including testing a variety of glazing, shading and cavity width configurations.  

The double skin façade acts as a shield against Ireland’s notoriously unpredictable weather. Harsh wind and rain no longer impact the ventilation strategy or internal air quality, as the windows behind the façade can be opened onto a shielded, protected, void space of clean air resource, to facilitate natural ventilation in any weather.  

In cloudy conditions the façade blinds are retracted automatically to maximise daylight, whilst remaining closed during sunny spells. Therefore, this multi-faceted design choice minimises the building’s reliance on air conditioning, reducing energy consumption as a whole and assisting the school with its decarbonisation goals. 

A popular space 

The atrium is the beating heart of the business school’s passive design strategy. Its location in the centre of the business school means that it is in the best location to ventilate and provide natural light to numerous connecting spaces, including classrooms. 

As the atrium is designed to withstand all weather conditions and is fitted with fixed external shading to regulate solar heat gain, all connecting spaces benefit from the regulated core temperature. With all classroom windows opening directly into the atrium rather than to the elements directly, they are protected from outdoor weather conditions and inclement wind and rain effects throughout the year. This prevents draughts and regulates the classroom temperatures.  

Indeed, the atrium provides such a pleasant environment that students choose it as a place to congregate and study, even though the space was not necessarily envisaged for this purpose. Plentiful natural light, a comfortable temperature throughout the year, wide and welcoming spaces, and plenty of fresh air have made it an irresistible spot for a lunch break or study session, or indeed as an exhibition space during conferences. 

Functionality meets style 

Not only does it meet its function in practice, but it also meets it in style.  

The atrium’s solar shading, designed by IN2 to regulate air temperatures, is also utilised in a manner that delivers true sustainability whilst enhancing educational opportunities for the adjacent botany department.  

Planting has been installed on the solar shading, which benefits from a direct solar aspect to the south. A piped irrigation system creates a ‘living laboratory’ of this feature, in addition to its function as a critical environmental shading device. 

Passive design meets decarbonisation goals 

Trinity Business School is primarily naturally ventilated from atrium and double-skin façade arrangements whilst minimising energy consumption and maintenance requirements. Energy reduction has been achieved through a combination of passive design features including natural ventilation and daylight, in conjunction with low-energy systems such as displacement ventilation to the auditorium, supplemented by renewable technologies including photovoltaic array to achieve NZEB performance. 

The building’s energy performance has been confirmed to be in accordance with the Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) Directive as implemented within TGD Part L 2017 of the Building Regulations. This is despite it having been designed in advance of this definition (2014-2015) and it is thus one of the first prestigious projects in Ireland to achieve NZEB compliance.  

IN2 went beyond the client brief to meet standards that future-proof the future and highlight it as a front-runner in sustainability standards and passive design. Post occupancy energy analysis confirmed the building’s performance, with consumption being 20% below the CIBSE “best practice” benchmark. 

Officially recognised as an industry-leading project 

IN2 were delighted when Trinity Business School was awarded the Irish Building & Design Awards Education/School Building of the Year 2019. Industry leaders have given the building the recognition it deserves, highlighting how it has been designed to promote the health and wellbeing of occupants.  

Regulated temperatures and a constant stream of fresh air means that all workspaces enjoy good air quality throughout, with ample natural light and views to natural greenery. A high standard of acoustic design also reduces noise distractions from outside, including bespoke attenuated louvre arrangements on post-grad offices overlooking an adjacent rail line, contributing to a pleasant and comfortable working environment. 

Future upgrades 

The building was designed and completed before air source heat pumps offered high-temperature performance at competitive cost. As a result, TBS relies on gas boilers as a primary heat source, a situation that conflicts with the organisation’s decarbonisation goals.  

To help further fortify the building for Ireland’s national decarbonisation goals that require Net-Zero by 2050, IN2 has completed a feasibility study into replacing gas boilers with air source heat pumps. This has determined that by replacing existing chiller plant with 4-pipe air source heat pumps would be viable, enabling predicted carbon savings of 90% of current Scope 1 and 56% of overall emissions when compared with a 2024 benchmark.