Design Challenge and Design Ideas

Challenge
The challenge for the project was to build a load bearing structure in a public park in rammed earth. This challenge was heightened as it had not been undertaken before in an Irish climate and where the building would be open to the general public. The material had to be structurally graded and regulatory compliant with Irish Building Regulations.

Process
Sample subsoil was sourced locally. This earth was tested over a series of weeks for malleability, compressive strength and particle size by MTU Engineering Department. After carrying out the testing the best “earth mix” was identified for appropriate use for the brief at hand.

Intent
The exposed earth structure allows for users to acknowledge the value of earth, comprehend its structural value and question why it is not being adopted in more public buildings in Ireland.

How the brief was fulfilled

Form
The form of the building is a reinterpretation of the vernacular cottage. The open plan with columns references the Greek Agora, which was a response to the client’s brief to create a space for the dissemination of thoughts in a public forum.

Originality
The project is the first rammed earth public building to be completed in Ireland. Earth was extracted from the vicinity of the site, processed by hand by volunteers and rammed by hand over a 9-month period. This subsoil is the primary material for the floor and walls.

Design Simplicity & Flow
The project is completely stripped back to create a functional non-cluttered space that can act as a platform for public functions and gatherings in the park.

Engineering
Rammed earth walls hold up the roof and enclose the space. Structurally, the roof sits on a box beam which allows it to cantilever, thus enabling the roof structure to stay standing in the event that a wall or column was removed by a determined vandal. This was a major concern for the client, given the recent proliferation of vandalism in public parks in Cork city.

Engagement & Feeling
The layers of compacted earth resonate with the history of the site as the city’s municipal landfill. Each layer of compacted earth hints at the decades of compacting the city’s waste into the open bog. The rammed earth layers of the walls and columns have a subtly and tangibility that allows the visitor to touch and inspect.

Usefulness
On a basic level, the building will give shelter to the park user on a wet day. On a deeper level it allows the user to pause and absorb the beauty of the bog beyond. From an educational perspective it allows the user to engage/interact with sustainable materials (hoggin, rammed earth, reed). Thus, heightening an awareness of the potential of these materials for the general public.

Sustainability
The primary materials that were utilised in the floor, walls, roof and roof finishes can be received back into nature at the end of the building’s lifetime. This was a key ambition of the project.