Dublin

WATERWAYS HOUSE
 
Country: Ireland
Location: Dublin
Purpose:  office space, retail, services
Main Contractor:  Sisks & Son,
Architect:  Smith + Kennedy Architects
Our contribution: Performing static, fabrication and site project curtain walls.
Complete: 2018

A seven-story office building overlooking Dublin's Grand Canal docks.  A strikingly modern building demolished in 2016 and rebuilt from the ground up at a cost of 30 million euros, now offers 4,100 square meters of office space spread across seven floors.
Designed by Smith + Kennedy Architects and developed by Sisks & Son is part of the Dublin dock redevelopment program. The facility was built on one of the last undeveloped parts of the Dublin’s quays.
 
PROJECT 
The unique, award-winning and revolutionary design of the Waterways House has become a symbol of innovation in Irish architecture. It is the first commercial building in Ireland to feature a ventilated façade with a continuous surface made of Krion, a new generation solid material similar to natural stone. Produced in Spain, Krion consists of two-thirds of natural minerals and a small percentage of high-resistance resins. It does not have any pores, it is durable, easy to refill and clean.   
Krion proven resistance to adverse weather conditions, remarkable ease of maintenance and durability made it the perfect material for this project. It was also used to make a reception desk in the entrance hall, where the TileStyle laid floor tiles of extraordinary beauty.

CONSTRUCTION
Experienced in the installation of Krion facades, TileStyle supported the Waterhouse construction process from start to finish and provided all aspects of technical support for its technical partner - the Butech company. Thanks to the BIM all of the details necessary for the preparation of the project were available to all participating partners, and after finishing the model, all of the involved parties had access to the documentation and the ability to introduce the corrections. It was similar at the construction stage. The Dublin city council also had an insight into the work progress, thanks to a dedicated website. 
A very specialized task was to fit Krion as a ventilated facade - the installers had to be experienced in both the installation of the facade and the production of a solid surface. The elevation was assembled in stages. First, the support system was installed and only then the Krion was perfectly connected to the glass surfaces.   
The unique architecture and clever combination of Krion with glass contributed to Waterways House being a groundbreaking project that paved the way for the future of commercial building projects in Ireland.