Etched dramatically and strikingly into a slope at the gateway to Enniscorthy Technology Park, Senan House is Ireland’s first certified Passive House office building. For designing this landmark project, MosArt Architects collected the prestigious ‘Sustainability Award for a Single Building or Development’ at the 2024 Building and Architect of the Year Awards.
A stunning triumph for sustainability, Senan House is Ireland’s first fully passive commercial building, designed and constructed as the showpiece of the all-new Enniscorthy Technology Park – a dynamic and innovative ecosystem that will foster collaboration, creativity and growth among technology-driven companies.
Senan House, which garnered the ‘Sustainability Award for a Single Building or Development’ accolade at the 2024 Building and Architect of the Year Awards (and was also shortlisted in the ‘Building of the Year – Office (Medium)’ category), is the first building to be erected in the fledgling Enniscorthy Technology Park, helping establish a statement entrance to a park which will gradually fill out over the coming years.
“We were thrilled to pick up the Building and Architect of the Year Award, not least because we can now call ourselves an award-wining practice,” comments director and architect Art McCormack. “We had already collaborated on Passive House standard houses and schools in Ireland, but this is the first certified Passive House office building and it was a real honour to have the opportunity to design such a noteworthy building.”
From the outset, Senan House was designed to achieve extraordinarily high energy efficiency, comfort and health (indoor air quality), involving the PH standard. It remains the only office building in Ireland to meet this standard while also being one of the lowest in respect of embodied carbon.
Senan House was conceived in style as a contemporary structure, alluding to the nautical that reflects its river-view and the historical boat-life of the town’s past. Fenestration and wall panelling create a Modernist horizontal effect. The central bay pushes out from the basic rectangular form of the building with a cranked geometry of planes that express an openness to both those who approach from the east (upslope) and the town to the northwest (downslope).
MosArt Architecture has played a key role in pioneering and introducing Passive House not just in Ireland but on the world stage. With a proven track record of providing consultancy for high-profile developments across the world, including the 26-storey Cornell Tower in Manhattan and the first certified Passive House project in China, MosArt was appointed for the shell and core of Senan House due to their expertise in the Passive House standard and their experience in integrating buildings and landscape. This was a design-and-build project with Michael Bennett & Sons as main contractor.
Senan House helps establish a gateway to the technology park. It stands powerfully on a slope overlooking the River Slaney with its beautiful, broad river valley as well as over the N11 and Enniscorthy town itself. The trailblazing structure comprises a four-storey detached office building running on a north-south axis, with the top floor set back as a gallery balcony for penthouse offices.
“For this site and development, Tom Enright [the then Chief Executive / County Manager of Wexford County Council] promised the people of Enniscorthy that he would develop a technology park on the edge of town to stimulate much-needed growth. We got permission for two buildings in the development in 2019 and this is the first one to be completed. Future developments in the Park will depend on two things: the demand for tenancy and the willingness of developers to fund it.”
The central bay pronounced in plan and section provides a formal focus and entry and is distinguished in profile by its elevated mono-pitch roof. Given the sloping terrain, the site section proves critical in the design solution: the building notches into its immediate context, using the higher ground to the east for the main access via a bridge while opening towards the river and town to the west / northwest.
Fronted by a team of more than 20 architectural technologists, building physicists and service engineers who are firmly committed to sustainability, clever design, creativity and leadership in high-performance building design, the award-winning, industry-leading practice MosArt was established in 1993 by Art McCormack and Tomás O’Leary, focused on architecture, sustainability and education.
Art holds qualifications in architecture, landscape and urbanism, while Tomás is a qualified Landscape Architect as well as a global leader in the Passive House standard. In 2004, the latter built the first certified PH building in the English-speaking world. Since then, Art and Tomás have been committed to Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) and the Passive House standards.
Built to the PH standard with its attention to the integrity of the building fabric and IAQ (indoor air quality), Senan House sets high performance levels for this building type, especially regarding physical comfort and health. Notable innovations include the particularly high levels of airtightness, ensuring a draught-free internal environment. Furthermore, the mathematics-based modelling of the windows ensured that no radiant discomfort would occur, even for occupants sitting beside the windows.
Part of the low carbon credentials derive from the heating and cooling of the building by electricity only – no gas or oil exists on-site while no wet heating system, such as conventional radiators, has been used in the building.
Enhanced sustainability is achieved by the use of factory-produced timber frame wall panels packed with cellulose insulation.
A global leader in the Passive House standard, MosArt has been involved in some of the world’s most innovative, low carbon design solutions across architecture and urban design, for residential, commercial and public sectors, and has worked with government bodies to establish high building performance construction standards. Currently, MosArt is the Expert Technical Advisor on the National Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Demonstration Park, contracted by SOLAS, and is working with innovators to develop rapid-build techniques.
MosArt held recently in the RDS an international ZEB Summit concerning Zero emissions Buildings.
Based on MosArt’s time-proven expertise in the Passive House standard, a Passive House Developer Group has been established involving top tier residential developers. This is but one indication of a growing excitement and momentum surrounding realising buildings that achieve the Passive House standard.
Indoor air quality and comfort were ensured at Senan House by the incorporation of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system, providing a continuous supply of fresh, clean and tempered (heated / cooled) air at all times, with no variations in temperature across the building and an even distribution of comfortable, healthy, fresh air. Operation of this system is optimised by using remote control cloud-based technology.
As for power production, the flat roofs are used for a solar photovoltaic array with an average annual output of 44,386 kWh and 48.2 kW peak power, to achieve on-site economic energy generation. The majority of electricity thus produced is used on site, with the excess exported to the grid.
Providing spacious modern offices within viewing and walking distance of Enniscorthy town and achieving the PH standard ensured that Senan House is sustainable and fit for purpose. Its commanding position on slopes above the Slaney, distinguished by the juxtaposition of horizontal ribbon windows and the vertical thrust of the central bay create a striking and meaningful identity.
Senan House also performs well regarding carbon emissions, including low carbon urbanism. For instance, sustainable mobility is achieved by the provision on site of 61 bike stands as well as showering facilities and 49 electric vehicle charging points. These facilities will be complemented by a pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the Slaney that will link the town centre to the Park.
As with any first-of-a-kind project of this scale, scope and nature, many challenges were encountered along the way. During the early stages of the project, for example, preparing a sloping site and getting levels right was extremely challenging, not least because of the unstable wet marl that makes up so much of the land in this part of the country. The payoff comes in a striking finished building with fantastic views.
Senan House runs on a slightly cranked north-south axis, with views of the river valley to the west. The town with its iconic spires is visible against the backdrop of the Blackstairs Mountains to the north while St. Senan’s Hospital – a distinctive Victorian building now converted into apartments – can be seen through the southern windows.
“The views from Senan House are fantastic, be it across the River Slaney or back towards the town with its historic buildings, not least the medieval castle and two churches with their fine spires,” Art enthuses. “Enniscorthy has had those landmark buildings going back to Victorian times and we like to think that Senan House is the town’s latest feature building – a new historic building, if you like.”
MosArt Ltd.,
Wicklow County Campus,
Clermont House,
Rathnew
County Wicklow
Tel: 0404 25777
Mobile: 087 221 5553
Email: [email protected]
Web: mosart.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September 2024, Vol 10 No 9
