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According to ‘The European Charter for Solar Energy in Architecture and Urban Planning’ roughly half of the energy consumed in Europe is used to run buildings, and further 25% is accounted for by traffic.To generate this energy we use great quantities of non-renewable fossil fuel that will not be available to next generations. Also the emissions that are the result of the processes of the conversion of fuel into energy have a lasting negative effect on the environment. Not to mention intensive cultivation and destructive exploitation of wider and wider parts of terrain all over the world that lead to progressive decrease of natural habitats.
This alarming situation requires immediate and fundamental change of our thinking, particularly among planners, architects and engineers, who take part in the process of construction. That reorientation should consist in responsible approach to nature, conservation of natural resources and the use of inexhaustible energy potential of the sun as extensively as possible.The Charter for Solar Energy especially calls on architects to design urban spaces and buildings taking all these facts into consideration.
Having worked on the first conceptions of the project, we decided that The Center of Science, Sustainable Technology and Innovation, The Dublin Docklands Area would be a part of the city where the public spaces, buildings and their various elements form a complex system of material and energy flows. First of all we have analysed the specific local situation, the existing building fabric, vegetation, climatic, topographical factors and availability of ecologically sustainable forms of energy – especially sun, wind, and stream of the Liffey river. Our goal was to reflect all factors mentioned above in the design of layout and form of the urban space and buildings.
Our project was also to a large extent, based on the Master Plan created by the Authority of the city. The Master Plan was a result of surveys that revealed unevenness of development pressures in this area. We have analysed surveys that had chronicled a process of change in the Doclands land use in recent decades and we have concluded that The Docklands is perhaps the largest part of the city which offers an opportunity of achieving a sustainable built environment where living, working and leisure could be integrated in a way that eliminates the need for extensive use of individual transport.
Our further studies revealed the existence of wide range of factors(such as universities, an international financial center, an industrial district, a nearby international harbour, an airport and a railway station) that are essential when it comes to planning of The Center of Science, Technology and Innovation. The designed complex makes up a great integrity in spite of the fact that it consists of a great quantity of elements: the research laboratories section (,where new systems and construction technologies would be worked out), University, the Center of Information, the Multimedia Library, and the Conference andExhibition Center (where exhibitions, courses of instruction and training would be organised and new energy supply systems, funding and distribution models, standards and regulations would be presented), administrative and office buildings, the Industrial Section (where the inventions would be put into practice), the railway station (both passenger and freight), commercial and entertainmet center, all connected with each other, with open spaces (parks, gardens), residential areas (of diverse but still high standards) and the significant parts of the town mentioned above. All the buildings and open spaces are designed in such a way that minimum of energy would be needed to light them up and service them in terms of harnessing heat for hot water, heating, cooling, ventilation and the generation of electricity from solar light. The more detailed solutions of these problems are presented in the projects of two buildings: the Multimedia Library andthe Multimedia Information Center – the idea of the double facade with integrated shading systems, a natural green walls, solar panels on the roofs and in the open spaces around the buildings.
Having taken all these facts into consideration we still remembered that the CoSSTI was meant for people. Thousands of human beings would work and visit The Center so we have tried to create a healthy and friendly environment. We separated pedestrian zones (upper level of the complex) from a car traffic and parking areas (lower level). The pedestrian zones are equipped with green open spaces, elevators and other equipment for handicapped, mobile stairways, rest areas, restaurants and caffeterias, local yacht marina, observatin decks and viewpoints. The light and greenery as well as water are inserted not only into urban spaces but also into buildings.
The project of the CoSSTI touches upon plenty of subjects related to the problems of sustainability of our civilization. However we are still aware of the fact that this approach means a greater workload for not only the architects. Nowadays complex design imply more activity of diverse engineers, health and safety consultants and other specialists – in collaboration with planners, climatoligists and sociologists, as well as with local residents. Our project is just a beginning of a greater masterpiece, where the Architecture, Environment and Design would be shaped in a way that all in all it would be a quintesence of a new, extremely ambitious approach (both in practice – by its layout, form and applied technologies, and in theory – by its activity). We dedicate the project of The Center of Science, Sustainable Technology and Innovations to the present and future generations, for their better, ecological future. |
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