ADS Kells

View of the Meeting Room in the industrial unit.

Project Details

• Project Name: ADS Kells
• Client: Archaeological Development Services Ltd
• Project Type: Industrial Fit-Out
• Location of site: Kells, Co Meath
• Principal Designer: Box Architecture
• Design Team: David Dwyer, Sinead Cullen
• Contractor: Welplan Ltd.
• Date of commencement of project: 2000
• Date of completion of project: 2003
• Built Up Area:
  • Ground Floor 346 m²
  • Mezzanine 242 m²

Clear glass walls traversed by timber door planes help create a flexible open space.

The Building

The Archaeological Development Services Ltd. (ADS), a company providing a range of archaeological services to the construction and development sector, required the fitting out of a mid-terraced industrial unit. The brief required that the industrial feel of the unit be retained and the use of natural daylight be maximized. The architects thus inserted a series of objects into the building around which the plan hence evolved.

View of the Reception area on the ground floor of the two-storeyed unit.

On the ground floor the reception and administrative areas are held to the front of the unit while the preliminary processing and storage area is pushed to the rear of the two-storyed void. The laboratory is located in the centre of the building flanked on both sides by utility elements which contain the vertical circulation. These elements connect the mezzanine, toilets, dark room and air abrasive room, allowing for daylight to penetrate deep into the volume from the translucent roof lights above.

View of the mezzanine level.

A shaft of light in the stairs indicates access to the mezzanine level. A plate is inserted to one side of the mezzanine under which the formal functions are gathered. These are further delineated by clear glass walls traversed by timber door planes, creating a flexible open plan in the centre of the building. Finishes are kept to a minimal keeping with the industrial feel of the space. The project was selected for exhibition at the 2004 RIAI Awards

Credits

• Text: Courtesy of the architect
• Photographs by Paul Tierney, Courtesy of the architect
• Compiled and edited by Mitesh Saraf