Three years on from the completion of the Tropical Fruit Warehouse on Dublin’s quayside, lead architect Eoin Flanagan reflects on the project’s success – from an ambitious architectural vision to the specialised team at Schüco that made it possible.

Photos
Enda Cavanagh

Rising from Dublin’s quayside, just south of the Beckett Bridge on Dublin Quays, sits the Tropical Fruit Warehouse: a former warehouse and prominent example of adaptive reuse by Dublin-based architecture practice, Henry J Lyons. Completed three years ago, the project demonstrates how architectural intervention, in collaboration with high-performance façade technology from Schüco, can transform industrial heritage into a contemporary workplace without losing a rich, historic identity.

Its success lies in a carefully considered three-part composition: a restored 19th century warehouse, a lightweight cantilevered extension hovering above, and a new seven-storey office building to the rear of the site. Behind the restored red brick, double gabled façade, are the original Scots Pine trusses, which have been restored and deliberately highlighted as features framing the open plan space beneath.

The box that floats above the robust warehouse has become the project’s signature feature, and was the architects’ way of ‘breathing new life’ into the scheme; re-establishing its position on the south bank of the Liffey. The glass extension is cantilevered from the third and fourth storeys of the new office block behind, connecting all three buildings through shared circulation routes. This creates an entirely accessible scheme, whilst also protecting the warehouse from unnecessary interventions to the truss and roof.

Environmental performance has been of equal consideration to the team. Achieving LEED Platinum and BER A3, the all-electric development combines low-carbon systems with a high-performance twin-skin façade, delivering comfort alongside panoramic glazing. The reuse of the existing fabric, combined with smart shading and natural ventilation strategies, underpins the project’s strong sustainability credentials.

Several years on, the Tropical Fruit Warehouse stands as a persuasive model for how heritage and technology can be productively aligned. Shane Hall, Technical Director at the specialist contractors Alucraft, said; “There were many challenges on Tropical Fruit as with every Grade A high spec office development in Dublin, and early engagement and collaboration on the façade types with Schüco was paramount. The project was comprised of various Schüco systems like ‘plant-on’ FWS 50 on glass fins around the entrance and reception area, including same specification in the roof light making this area extremely light weight and airy between the somewhat shaded area of the link between the old warehouse and the new office. However, the unitised was the most challenging due to the jumbo size of 3.0m x 5.0m supporting large extruded feature fins and glass within its chassis. Alucraft/Schüco collaborated in developing an existing UCC system innovated to cope with the structural gymnastics the design presented which was taken forward into other jumbo sized unitised projects.”

Are there aspects of the building you’re particularly proud of now that it’s in use?
The restoration of the building required careful execution by specialist conservators of historic fabric. Restoration of the masonry walls was carried out on site, with all salvaged stone reused and additional salvaged brick sourced from two separate salvage yards in Dublin used for the replacement of irreparable sections of masonry.

How would you describe the building’s presence in its wider urban context?
From an urban ‘place-making’ perspective, the redevelopment of the site has provided a significant planning gain, reshaping the stretch of lands running from Sir John Rogerson’s Quay through to Whitaker Square on the south of the development, and transforming the city block into an urban destination.

How did the building’s industrial heritage in combination with a contemporary urban context shape design decisions?
The design team engaged in early collaboration with the Historic Building Consultant, Robin Mandal, to define the scope of the restoration and interventions to the Protected Structure and ensure that conservation best practice was rigidly adhered to. Design inspiration for the building was drawn from local and international reference typologies of similarly adapted historical buildings, taking account of lessons learned and pushing the boundaries of what was technically possible. The two-storey cantilevered extension, whilst a bold move, was considered the appropriate means of sensitively ‘breathing new life’ into the dilapidated warehouse and realising IPUT’s vision to mark the site’s landmark location.

In-line with conservation best practice, the warehouse overhead extension required a structural design which respected the traditional pitched roof fabric of the Protected Structure below. The design response is a steel lattice frame cantilevered from a small central core which minimises the footprint impact of the new extension on the historic building underneath. Formed openings in the concrete walls of the core allow the original trusses to be threaded through into their original positions. Many of the trusses have undergone structural repairs to rectify water damaged timbers which had decayed over years of neglect. In conjunction with the conservation subcontractor, a specialist timber resin splice was designed to replace the damaged truss end with suitably sourced Scots Pine. To maintain the original aesthetic of the trusses, concealed steel rods were dowelled into the chord ends to splice the new timber with the old, without any visible fixings.

Given the richness of the signature elements of the building, a leaner approach was adopted in the design and procurement of the new-build elements. A materials palette of glass and aluminium, combined with elegant detailing and proportions have created an overall harmonious facade composition which compliments the more traditional construction fabric of the connected warehouse building. The design of feature facade elements have drawn inspiration from the historical features of the Protected Structure and have been subtly woven into the detail of key public facing areas of building envelope.

Internally, exposed pre-cast concrete and painted steel are the predominant materials used in a simple palette of finishes and minimalist detailing. This selection of finishes expresses a defined distinction between the new and the old, with the modern construction appearing as subservient but complementary to the grain of the traditional restored fabric.

Credits

Additional images