Aras Chill Dara is the civic building for Kildare County Council, consisting of 10,500m² of office accommodation together with the main council chamber. The building has been designed over three floors consisting of two blocks side-by-side, each approximately 12.5m wide and connected by a glazed walkway. The outer facades of both blocks are sloped with a garden area in between.

A design approach based on the principles of sustainable development was applied throughout this project, the strong environmental theme being in line with the Council’s wish to pursue carbon dioxide reduction goals and have a showcase building to promote energy efficiency.

The design achieved the equivalent of BREEAM Excellent, with natural ventilation, exposed concrete slab soffits and a responsive glazed façade with operable windows providing a high level of environmental performance. Daylight modelling was used to show that light shelves and reflectors can balance the distribution of natural light. This assisted in reducing the use of shading, therefore increasing the efficiency of lighting controls while helping to maintain excellent comfort conditions.

Date: Completed in 2006