SAS International Chilled Ceiling Solution for Prestigious Office Redevelopment

SAS CoolCeil chilled ceilings have been specified throughout the six floors of a prestigious new development in the heart of Dublin’s central business district. Formerly known as Colmstock House, 75 St Stephen’s Green has benefited from extensive refurbishment and extension work, and the building now boasts nearly 10,000m_ of state-of-the-art office accommodation.

Irish architects Burke Kennedy Doyle and Associates specified SAS CoolCeil chilled ceilings throughout the six floors. Homan O’Brien Associates were the M&E Consultants for the project.

The existing building had a low floor to ceiling height compared with modern buildings and the developers wanted to maximise the feeling of height within the space. An innovative cooling solution was required to allow a finished floor to ceiling height of 2700mm with only an 85mm zone available below the coffered slab.

“We worked with SAS to design the first chilled ceiling system to be installed within an 85mm zone and offer an energy efficient solution when compared to more traditional air-conditioning systems,” commented Simon O’Brien, Joint Managing Director, Homan O’Brien Associates.

Because the original structural façade was left in place the building didn’t conform to current space planning and partitioning grids, the chilled ceiling panels needed to be manufactured by SAS International to bespoke dimensions. The panels feature a perforated surface, which allows sound to pass through and be absorbed by the acoustic pads in the rear of the panel.

The installation of the chilled ceilings had to overcome some challenging on-site difficulties. Noteworthy was the hollow-pot construction of the ceiling slab. Not only did this mean that special fixings had to be used in the concrete, the lengths of the chilled ceiling supporting rods were different at each edge of the panel. In some instances distances between the top of the panel and the ceiling was less than 85mm.

The 1960s development on the site was occupied by the Irish Justice office until 2004, when it was acquired by Shelbourne Developments for €52.3m. Over two years were then spent in the redevelopment of the building.

Considered to be one of Dublin’s most prestigious addresses, the buildings surrounding St Stephens Green are occupied by global corporations and by Irish Government departments. The broad expanse of this development also faces the Green and the secluded Iveagh Gardens are found to its rear. The speculative nature of this project has proved successful with over two thirds of the space already occupied in this landmark building.

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