Project Title: Midlothian Council Offices
Client: Midlothian Council
Winner: BCO Scotland Out-of Town Award 1999
This project was a ‘daughter’ project arising from the New Edinburgh Park Project. This project was to provide 4,500m2 of Corporate Headquarters Offices for Midlothian Council in a small Business Park setting and employs the same principles as those described previously.
Together with the Architect, H&K evolved a solution which was based on the study for the New Edinburgh Park Project. Arising from this Design and Costing Study, we understood the key design parameters required to find an effective solution for Fairfield House.
The solution which evolved incorporated the following features, amongst many others, and recognised that the building location is in a quiet walled garden setting, allowing natural ventilation to be used effectively.
- The two storey building incorporates two 12m deep floorplates around a central Atrium/Street which contains internal stairways to enable good physical communications.
- The main provision of natural ventilation is from the motorised rooflights over the Atrium which operates under thermostatic and time control. The actuators are electronically controlled and link directly to the BMS allowing the control loops to be ‘tuned’ to meet actual occupancy needs.
- The reinforced concrete soffit has been specially modelled and has a high quality surface finish which provides a very attractive appearance. The soffit is lit by suspended uplighters which also incorporate acoustic panels to control background noise levels.
- The exposed soffits are used in conjunction with night ventilation through the rooflights to pre-cool the structure prior to occupancy in a night free cooling mode.
- To meet comfort needs during cold windy winter weather and to combat higher internal temperatures expected in hot summer weather, a mixed mode supplementary mechanical ventilation system is provided.
