The environmental impact of the Gaelscoil and Raheen school buildings throughout their life will be a fraction of a traditional building’s construction and the occupants will have the knowledge that they are working within a building that is responsive to the environment. Working in a low energy building has additional benefits such as improved comfort associated with the increased daylight levels and availability of user controllable natural ventilation. These schools will also provide an ideal opportunity for the students to learn about the responsible building technologies that will shape their future.

The Department of Education and Science’s Planning and Building Unit team including Senior Architect Frank Lewis and Senior Engineer John Dolan were keen that the objectives for the completed schools were to provide quality educational facilities appropriate to their users’ requirements. The project not only encompasses low energy design, but also involves providing feedback to the Department on the schools and their systems’ operation, and creating the schools as life learning tools, that enable the buildings to be active learning resources for energy conservation and sustainability for the pupils and teachers.
Through the use of advanced energy and daylight simulation software, the design team were able to gain a better understanding of how the buildings would react with their environments, and understand how these reactions can be used to improve the internal environment while minimising energy consumption

GAELSCOIL AN EISCIR RIADA, TULLAMORE, CO. OFFALY

Project Brief
The brief for this building was to provide an eight-classroom primary school using considerably less energy in its operation than a traditional school, and showing an appreciation of sustainability in its construction. The school is provided with a detailed monitoring system that will provide information vital to the understanding of energy and water use in school buildings.