Meath County Council Buvinda House

Delap & Waller Ltd. were appointed by Meath County Council (MCC) to undertake the Mechanical, Electrical and Vertical Transportation Services design and periodic inspection of the refurbishment works at the existing Quinn Direct Insurance Building at Navan’s IDA Business Park. Along with the project architect design team DW have designed a fit-out for the building to create a modern, flexible and comfortable working environment for MCC’s employees. The fit-out is a phased approach and is currently occupied by the council’s Planning Department; further phases will see the completed fit-out throughout the building.
D&W was appointed from concept design to full completion and handover. The building services design and installation included but are not limited to:

• Fit-out of a temporary facility for the Planning Department
  
• Fit-out of a modern office environment for the complete building; full services design and specification documenta-tion.
  
• Due diligence reporting on the existing services installation.
  
• AHU repairs and ductwork replacement
  
• Chiller replacement
  
• Low energy lighting design including automatic detection and daylight harvesting
  
• Renewable technologies feasibility study and energy strategy
  
• New council chamber feasibility study

The building had previously been designed to function as a call centre and along with the Architect led design team DW were tasked with updating the building to operate as the new civic headquarters for MCC for the following requirements:

• Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) through the use of active chilled beams within open plan areas, supported by centralised heating and cooling plant
• Water services
• Gas services
• Canteen facilities including a fully equipped state of the art kitchen
• Manually switched non-dimmable lighting
• Standby generation and mission critical support plant including a diesel generator and an uninterruptible power supply installation
• Information Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and associated comms equipment
• General power services including socket outlets
• Fire protective services
• Security services

Lighting offers a unique opportunity to greatly improve and enhance a building’s function and appearance.  Given the existing window aspect of the building, DW sought to maximise the use of incoming natural daylight and minimise the use of artificial light.  This was achieved by introducing a comprehensive lighting control system that enabled both presence and absence detection; and daylight harvesting (the use of dimmable light fittings that dim or switch off when daylight levels meet the internal required levels).  The use of LED lighting technology in a number of key areas within the building targeted energy efficiency and ‘brightened’ up previously dimly light areas.

All life safety services were upgraded in accordance with current national standards to ensure the building offers a safe facility for both staff and public alike.