The site adjoins the busy East Wall Road to the east and the 3 Arena to the west and was required to mitigate against traffic noise from the former and the large numbers of pedestrians expected in the adjoining public areas of the Point Square before and after events in the latter. The north end of the development was also required to be tied into the existing Point Village development over three basement levels (MCA Architects n.d.).

Solutions

The office project, which will be the highest office development in the city, is designed to mitigate noise from East Wall Road traffic by raising seven or fifteen stories of completely glass office space over three oval, RC drums. This allows for easy exterior site mobility at podium level. This required the cantilevered office areas from the three RC cores to adopt a structural steel solution. The reception halls are housed in single-story glass boxes on the north and south ends of the structure. This configuration also makes it possible to equip the building's bottom floor at Level 08 with a sizable landscaped terrace that provides expansive views of the surrounding city to the south, east and west.

Q4 2017

Construction Cost:

€80M

Development Size

16,000M² Office space & 1000M² External Roof Terrace

Client:

Grant Thornton

Architect:

Shay Cleary Architects / Michael Collins Architects

Contractor:

Multiple

Service provided:

Mechanical / Electrical

Director:

Martin McGrath / William Forsyth

Archello (n.d.) Tianjin Chow Tai Fook Financial Centre, available: www.archello.com [accessed 03 Nov 2023]

Archidiaries (n.d.) World's Seventh Tallest Building, available: www.archidiaries.com [accessed 04 Nov 2023].

Brant, L. (2023) Bullitt Center Pioneers Sustainable, Multi-story design in Rainy Seattle, Building Systems, available: www.buildings.com [accseesed 01 Nov 2023]

Dublin's Iconic Exo Building (2022), available: https://www.elecmagazine.com/electrical-services/ [accessed 01 Nov 2023]

MCA Architects (n.d.) available: www.mca.ie [accssed 01 Nov 2023]

OCSC (n.d.) O'Connor, Sutton, Cronin Multidisciplinary Consultant Engineers, available:https://www.elecmagazine.com/electrical-services/ [accessed 01 Nov 2023]

The Bullitt Centre was intended to serve as an emulated framework for promoting market transformation and showcasing sustainably produced goods that are economically feasible (Acquisition International , 2010). Rooftop solar panels provide more electricity than the building requires, with any extra power being fed back into the grid. In addition, rainwater is collected by the building for irrigation and other non-potable uses like toilets.

The panels are just one of many features that make the Bullitt Center a living system that pioneered sustainable, multi-story design in the Seattle area.

Biomimicry components include natural ventilation with night flush and operable windows and blinds that open and close to regulate heat inside the building. Nature’s ability to shed heat like the stomata in plants and pores in our skin regulates internal temperatures, much in the same way the windows and blinds do for the center. The Venetian blinds rise when maximum light is required and lower when shade is needed. The blinds also tilt upward to allow light to illuminate inside without causing unwanted glare on electronic devices. The large windows also provide adequate natural lighting so electric lamps are rarely needed.

The windows also pop out 8 inches to allow air circulation overnight. The warm air exits out the top of the window as cooler night air circulates through the bottom.

A greywater treatment system is in place that makes use of waste compost, evapotranspiration, and infiltration.

Aiming to raise the standard as stewards and co-creators of a living future, the Living Building Challenge was completed in April 2015, making it one of the greenest commercial buildings in the world. There are seven performance categories in the challenge: place, water, energy, materials, equity, and beauty.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an intelligent 3D model-based process that RLP used to design and implement the intricate structure.