Waterford Institute of Technology Receives Acclaim for Kalwall Corporation
1951 was a proud year for County Waterford, Ireland, when a local boy made good: Earnest Walton shared the Nobel Prize for Physics (with John Cockcroft) for being the first to artificially split the atom and prove Einstein's Theory of Relativity. In 2005, the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) named their new computer laboratory building after Walton because he also vindicated Einstein's ideas about the speed of light — the same speed as messages moving in and through computers. And according to the judges of the Dublin 2005 Plan Expo Opus Architecture and Construction Awards, the Walton Building is now improving the WIT campus in that same spirit. The structure has certainly furthered the institute's overall look and functionality and Kalwall is a key component.
Outside, the three-story, 3,061-square-meter (10,100-square-foot) Walton Building's white-brick finish matches the institute's Library and Information Resource Center. On both the east and west sides of the building, a total of eighteen, large, computer teaching labs are clad in black metal and daylighted by Kalwall translucent panels framed in black aluminum. Inside, the labs, as well as technical rooms and offices, surround a central atrium that basks in soothing, controlled daylight. The atrium is the building's main circulation and student socializing hub and includes the Reception area and a decorative pool.
Project architect A&D Wejchert & Partners, Dublin, has created an environment-friendly building that reduces or avoids the need for an expensive HVAC system. Energy-efficient, flat computer screens; low-energy lighting; nighttime cooling techniques; high insulation; and vents above each computer to move warm air away from building users all contribute. Kalwall panels reduce solar gain in the labs and atrium while maximizing diffuse daylight. But the Walton Building, designed for 600 people using computers, is also a textbook example of one of Kalwall's biggest advantages: daylight that eliminates glare from computer screens.
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The Opus Award, presented by the Office of Public Works, was especially gratifying for Wejchert due to the nature of the judging process: after using submitted photographs and drawings to whittle down the entries (135 this year) to a shortlist, a jury of six architects and engineers examines the roughly 30 projects in person. This approach, unusual in architecture competitions, often reveals flaws in design and workmanship not apparent on paper. Conversely, some buildings, appearing unremarkable in photographs, blossom in the judges' eyes when they actually see them. In the category of construction budgets over 5 million euros ($6 million), the Walton Building was "Commended" for being "crisply detailed with good workmanship" and a "welcome addition to an improving WIT campus."
Download more information about the Walton Building.
Walton Building, Waterford Institute of Technology
Architect: A&D Wejchert & Partners, Dublin
Shed-style Skylight: 426 square meters (1,406 square feet)
U = .18 thermally broken
Wall Panels: 1,556 square meters (5,137 square feet)
U = .10 thermally broken
For more information, contact:
Bruce Keller
Kalwall Corporation 603-627-3861 (800-258-9777 N. America)
In the UK:
Richard Stoakes
Stoakes Systems (www.stoakes.co.uk)
Kalwall has also received special recognition by the Sustainability Council. Seen here, on the left, is Kalwall Vice President Bruce Keller, receiving the award.
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