Project Type Commercial

Fingal County Council undertook a pilot fit-out of their office space at County Hall in Swords. The building was designed by Bucholz McEvoy Architects and opened in the early 2000’s. Since then, there has been considerable change in working habits, none more so than during the Covid pandemic. With this in mind, Fingal underwent an extensive consultation phase with staff to ensure the new space provided for their evolving requirements.

With the council’s staff numbers growing and the building beginning to age, the project aims were twofold. One, was to upgrade the energy performance of the building by replacing elements of the façade that had failed, whilst also upgrading the heating and ventilation systems. Two, was to deliver a modern office space that provided for flexible working hours and habits through varying types of individual and collaborative workspaces which permitted both private work and formal and informal teamwork.

The collaborative workspaces are centred in the plan and divided from individual desks by the use of linear storage lockers which incorporate planting to bring greenery and nature into the space. These central team spaces allow informal meetings to happen around a drawing or a screen without interrupting staff members working on an individual task. The acoustic pod and new meeting room provide acoustically separated zones for both longer formal meetings and privacy during a phone call.