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The
Lewis Glucksman gallery is a showcase for UCC’s art, ethnographic and scientific
collections and the personal initiative of UCC president, Gerry Wrixon. A wooded
limestone precipice overlooking the Lee’s meandering south channel dominates the
campus, once the site of an ancient Augustinian abbey. Perched on the cliff top
is a three-sided, south-facing Gothic quad of white limestone quarried from the
escarpment.
Mindful of the heritage and the
natural beauty of the Leeside setting, architects O’Donnell
and Tuomey have
created a building that has been has been described as “a brilliant diamond set
in the city’s tiara”. The base of the building is a limestone clad concrete
structure with galvanised steel windows cut into the solid plinth. Timber clad
gallery spaces are supported
on a concrete ‘table’ structure cantilevered
from columns to protect the root structure
of the surrounding trees. Granite
aggregate concrete was sandblasted to reveal reflective mica in the surface of
the structure. Angelim de Campagna, a sustainably sourced hardwood,
is bent
around the external envelope of the gallery structure with galvanised steel bay
windows peeling out from the wall surface. Services are routed in the thickness
of the walls and floors
to minimise extraneous visual intrusion in the
gallery spaces. The intention is that the natural finish materials (sawn
limestone, galvanised steel and untreated timber) should age
and weather
into the landscape. Architect Jitka Leonard joined the Glucksman project soon
after it started and explains how well hot dip galvanized steel works with
untreated timber. “Galvanizing is a natural finish for steel. We didn’t want a
secondary finish like paint; we chose it because as the timber weathers over
time the hot dip galvanized panels also change.
They work well, both
weathering together.”
The Galco Factor “We were a little bit worried about
the quality of the galvanizing because it’s not always
a perfect finish. But
Galco were really encouraging and brought out a big sample of galvanized
sheeting which looked very good and was exactly what we wanted to achieve. It
was a perfect piece.” Detailed discussions between architect and galvanizer
resulted in the optimum selection of steel thickness, panel size and quality
control procedures to ensure the desired results were achieved. An exercise in quality
control Jitka inspected literally hundreds
of pieces individually approving only the best quality material. “Galco was
aware that they would have to re-do
a piece if it wasn’t approved. If a
piece wasn’t up to scratch it could be remedied before being shipped to Cork.
Each piece was checked, sometimes twice. It was time-consuming but it saved time
in the end for the team in Cork.” Like so many architects, O’Donnell
& Tuomey appreciate the sustainability of Hot Dip Galvanizing as well as its
softer finish compared with stainless steel. It is more cost-effective than
stainless steel too. Jitka has the last word. “If we see something we like or
think is the right finish for a project we’re working on, we’ll use it, or
remember it and use it on future projects.” Sheila
O’Donnell and John Tuomey, architects of the Lewis Glucksman established their
partnership in 1988. The practice has developed an international reputation for
cultural and educational buildings including the Irish Film Centre, Ranelagh
Multi Denominational School and the Furniture College, Letterfrack. Mark
Irving’s book ‘1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die’, published in October
2007 ranks the Lewis Glucksman Gallery as one of the world’s greatest
achievements in architecture.
LEWIS GLUCKSMAN
GALLERY AWARDS RIAI Best Public Building in Ireland 2005 RIBA 2005 award winner European
category 2005 Project of the Year, UK
Buildings Services Awards 2006 Hot Dip Galvanizing Awards
overall winner
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