OPW: Office of Public Works
Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí
Minister Noel Dempsey officially opens the new Office of Public Works Headquarters in Trim, County Meath
Thursday 15th April 2010
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey TD, today officially opened the new headquarters of the Office of Public Works (OPW) in Trim, County Meath. The building covers over 8,000 square metres, and stands four storeys tall in its unique circular shape, with a full height atrium through the core and a civic plaza to the front creating the focal point in the planned new Trim Town Centre. It will cater for over 300 staff and many visitors.
Speaking to a large crowd assembled in the Atrium for the opening ceremony Minister Dempsey said “I am delighted to have the opportunity to join you here this afternoon and welcome you to Trim to mark the occasion of the official opening of the magnificent new decentralised Headquarters of the Office of Public Works here in Townspark, Trim, Co. Meath. This is a fine building and I am sure it will set a standard for the design and build for future public buildings. I wish you all the very best for the future in your personal lives and in your new corporate home here in Trim. The decentralisation of the OPW Headquarters to Trim is tangible evidence of the Government's commitment to the decentralisation programme and to balanced regional development, which, in my view, will bring substantial long-term dividends for the whole country including the public servants and their families”.
Going on to speak about the decentralisation process in general Minister Dempsey said “The Government were aware that the implementation of a programme of this size would present challenges but strong Government is about doing the right thing even when it is not easy. We weighed up the public policy considerations and we concluded that investing resources in decentralisation of public service organisations would achieve benefits not only for the staff involved but also for the wider communities around the country. Over 3,100 posts have relocated to date, to almost 40 locations. Full completion of the projects under way and approved will result in approximately 4,400 moves overall.”
Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Dr. Martin Mansergh TD, said “OPW has always had a strong presence in Co. Meath, including Brú na Bóinne and latterly the battle of the Boyne site. The OPW has been represented in Trim for many years with its East Region Engineering Office and workshops and the National Monuments depot well established here in the Town. Decentralisation of the OPW has resulted in the relocation of 220 staff to Trim to date. I am confident that I and staff here, will benefit from the very many amenities that Trim and its surrounding areas have to offer. Likewise I am confident that Trim itself will benefit from the location here of the headquarters of the OPW which will contribute to the economic well-being of the area, and I welcome Trim Chamber of Commerce and the many businesses who have come here today to showcase what they have to offer.”
Ends.
- For further information contact Neil Ryan, OPW Press Officer, (046) 942 6128 or (087) 947 5552.
Technical information for editors:-
The site was purchased from Meath County Council for €3.6M. The headquarters building is 8,325 M sq. and located at Jonathan Swift Street, Trim, County Meath. The car park building is 9,225 M sq. comprising of 348 car spaces and 64 bicycle spaces. The contractor for both main construction and fit-out works was Bennett Construction Limited, Mullingar, County Westmeath. The cost of the building was €32.2M and the construction (to handover to client in August 2009 ) took 24 months to complete.
The headquarters building is designed for office accommodation and includes an exhibition space, archive storage, library, canteen and support functions. The central atrium acts as an entrance focus and hub of activity. A suspended bridge crosses the atrium. The circular plan form crossed by the bridge ensures that all sections of the building are in relative close proximity to one another.
The building has an energy rating of A3, a very high rating by commercial building standards. For a prestige office block, the OPW HQ Trim, has been designed and constructed to be best-in-class when it comes to energy performance compared to buildings of similar type. The entire building has been designed to be naturally ventilated and the structure has been used as much as practicable to provide passive cooling in order to pre-cool the building before occupancy during the summer months. Special solar controlling glass and shading systems reduce the solar gain as much as possible.
High efficiency lighting with daylight linking and occupancy control has been installed throughout. The entire lighting installation is controlled by an advanced lighting management system.
A wood pellet boiler is installed to provide most of the heat to the building. A high efficiency gas boiler is also installed. Solar panels are installed on the rooftop for water heating. Heat exchangers are used on ventilation air systems to reduce heating demand. Water savings systems have been used in all washrooms.