Tony Rigg

Roebuck Hall II – UCD ‘Passive House’ Student Residences
(Abstract – final version 29/2/08)

Tony Rigg, Kavanagh Tuite Architects

Roebuck Hall II is a new student residence project, on the UCD Belfield Campus, for 650 to 700 student rooms & ancillary accommodation, to adjoin the recently completed Roebuck Hall I residence, with 300 student rooms.

The accommodation will be in 5 high quality free-standing buildings within generously planned open space, in the vicinity of Roebuck Castle, to be built in 3 stages.

In accordance with the Clients brief, the project is to be constructed to very high energy performance levels – aiming for an Irish BER “A” rating, a high BREEAM rating, and generally constructed to Passive House standards. This includes very high levels of thermal insulation, air-tight construction, high performance windows, & heat recovery ventilation systems. Integration of these concepts and standards in practice, with the student environment & life-style, presents an interesting challenge.

PLANNING & ORIENTATION
The buildings are planned to exploit sunlight & daylight for the benefit of the residents, & for energy conservation.

ENERGY & BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
The construction will include very high levels of thermal insulation (walls & roofs with U-values of 0.17), air-tight construction, high performance windows, & heat recovery ventilation systems.
All light fittings will be of long-life, high efficiency type.
Several heating/hot water options are presently being considered, including biomass, CHP, geothermal & solar.

HEALTH & WELLBEING
All habitable spaces will have external windows for view & daylight, with glare control blinds.
Heat-recovery ventilation will ensure high air quality to all areas at all times.

WATER
Rainwater harvesting for WC flushing will be incorporated, and low water use sanitary fittings will be provided throughout.

TRANSPORT
The Residences, of fairly high-density, are on the 11a, 17 & 46b bus routes, & will be provided with secure cycle storage facilities. They are situated within 10-15 minutes walking distance of UCD Campus academic, sport & social facilities.

The project, due for completion by September 2009, is presently in the early phases of design, and this paper will present the final design for the first of the 5 buildings.

Architects: Kavanagh Tuite Architects, Dublin
Design Team: Brian Kavanagh, Joy Kearns, Jonathan McGee, Tony Rigg, Saskia Schumann.

Ce travail est né de l'exigence de connaître la façon dont la Seconde Guerre mondiale est présentée, traitée et exposée dans la péninsule italienne. En général, nous avons constaté un grand déficit au niveau des musées sur ce thème. Si on exclut les ossuaires, les monuments et les mémoriaux, les vrais musées peuvent être comptés sur les doigts d’une main. Ce malaise est plutôt extra-muséal, les musées reflétant, comme toujours, la société qui les crée. Cette question est, avant tout, une question historique et sociologique dont l'absence d'offre muséale n'est qu'un symptôme, très visible pour nous muséologues.