EU Veterinary Ofice, Ireland: American Hardwood Export Council

EU Veterinary Office, Ireland

Species: American white oak, American ash, American black cherry, American basswood and American hard maple

Architect: Ciaran O'Connor, Office of Public Works

Awards: RIAI Regional Award
               National Trust in Ireland Awards
               Irish Joinery Awards

Photography: Dennis Gilbert/VIEW

White oak frames and doorsThe European Commission's new Food and Veterinary Office in Ireland is causing quite a stir amongst the design community. Featured in all the leading professional architectural journals in Ireland and the UK since it was opened in 2002, it has gone on to win no fewer than three design awards: The Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland – Regional Award; The National Trust in Ireland – Sustainable Building of the YearAward; The Irish Joinery Awards – Regional Award.

The building has been described as "a true monument to the modern use of hardwood", which is heartening in an era when the environmental confrontation of a decade left many architects nervous of the specification of hardwoods. The EU vet centre is helping to change that as a veritable union of EU Veterinary Officeenvironmentally sound design and materials in which 98% of the materials in this 13,500 square-metre building are also reusable or recyclable. The extensive use of hardwoods inside and out meets today's high standards of energy efficiency and sustainability.

Ciaran O'Connor, who led the design team from the Office of Public Works in Ireland, has earned himself a reputation for green design as a winner of the All-Ireland Landscape Award, the Ford Foundation Conservation Award and the Europa Nostra Medal, amongst others. For him the specification of timber was a natural choice. His aim for the 10 hectare green-field site outside Dublin, was to achieve a structure in harmony with its surroundings.

Exterior use of American hardwood in EU Veterinary OfficeAmerican white oak cladding interlaced with iroko (African hardwood) louvres to shield the glazing from the sun make up the external two-storey façade. The exterior walls are constructed in two skins; a 215mm block wall and an external façade of 25mm oak tongue-and-groove boards. In between the two layers are timber slats and insulation, specified to Scandinavian standards. All the external boarding, which is thicker than the norm to alleviate distortion over time, was cut and prepared off-site to minimise waste and maximise the efficiency of the fire and weather treatments.

Twenty containers of American white oak and two containers of American ash were used, much of it machined and installed by O'Neill Bros, Master Joiners of Londonderry. The American white oak was supplied tongued and grooved and kiln dried by Smee Timber to non-standard 14-16% moisture content (normally 8-10%) for external use in the Irish climate, as specified by O'Connor. Two containers of American ash were also supplied as rough sawn to Swift Horsman of Ware in Hertfordshire for production of specialised curved ash ceiling panels, and then supplied to McNamara Ltd, the main contractor for installation.

Interior use of wood in EU Veterinary OfficeA combination of American, European and tropical hardwoods dress the interior. Timber-clad walls line the wide corridors, and ceilings are constructed from slatted American ash. Cellular offices are equipped with doors inlaid with American, European and tropical veneers and slatted hardwood radiator screens. Louvred roof lights and motorised blinds in the two conference/meeting rooms are used to control natural light. The walls, lined in quarter-sawn, beech-veneered panels are separated by strips of American cherry.

The highlight of this wood-fest is the dining room, an unusually light, calm room at the centre of the building. The oak block floor is a far cry from the lino or concrete of most office canteens, and roof lights in an open coffered section of the American ash pleated ceiling take the place of flickering strip lighting. The walls are large windows framed in American oak which look out on to a courtyard, at the centre of the complex, and a terrace. The maple dining tables were designed by O'Connor. If ever there was an example of how to design with sustainable hardwoods, this is it.

By Michael Buckley