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The project grew from the “end of life” and scale of the existing county library which was too small to serve the growing population of the county town of Ennis and County Clare.
The brief called for a “landmark” building to serve all ages and needs; a “cradle to grave” clientele. The site chosen was adjacent to the 485 seat Glór theatre (2001) opposite Monastery Park.
The vision was to unify the performing, the literary and the visual arts and provide the administrative HQ for the County Library Service. The library, art gallery and Glór have been interlinked to create a new cultural nexus, maximising connectivity between the arts triptych within and whilst the new civic facade orientates this important cultural complex toward Monastery Park and the routes to the town's historic centre.
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We have arranged the new building elements to enwrap the existing Glór theatre, with a new civic facade which unites all 3 elements, library, gallery & theatre into a single architectural composition overlooking Monastery Park, an important public pocket park at the edge of Ennis town centre, and the adjacent historic Poor Clare Manastery. This move orientates this important new cultural complex to relate directly to the routes from the historic town centre.
The main entarnce is placed at the confluence of the routes through the park and a huge window in the main facade opens up daytime views from the library interior and main staircase to Monastery Park opposite, whilst as dusk falls the glazing appears to dissolve and the inner glow of the library is revealed to the world.
The DeValera is almost entirely naturally ventilated, and designed to achieve NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) standard and provide very high standards of universal access. Its structure combines a reinforced concrete frame with steel superstructure for the library offices. Substructure is a combination of mass concrete and piled foundations. Structural concrete incorporates GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag), a sustainable alternative to traditional cement to reduce environmental impact. Exposed concrete elements dominate the major internal spaces. The thermal inertia of this structure allowed energy to be better managed my natural means which was a key part of achieving NZEB. Over the building’s projected life span of 60+ years, it will have low life cycle embedded carbon.
By placing the new elements, the DeValera Library and the Súil Art Gallery immediately abutting the existing Glór, Keith Williams Architects have created a cultural nexus uniting the 3 primary colours of the arts, the visual, the literary and the performing, into a single new public arts complex. The library, art gallery and Glór are interlinked through a new double height colonnaded entrance portico, maximising connectivity between the arts triptych within, and by being prominently placed overlooking Monastery Park, this important new cultural complex relates directly to the town's green spaces and the routes from the historic town centre. The new building is wrapped in a 10m high, undulating curved reconstituted stone façade that unites the entire building complex. A huge window in the main facade opens up daytime views from the library interior and main staircase to Monastery Park opposite, whilst as dusk falls the glazing appears to dissolve and the inner glow of the library is revealed to the world. The pale polished reconstructed stone façade is integral with pre-cast concrete panels. This material allowed the flowing external form and the very quality of finely detailed surfaces and ribbed texture to the exterior of the building to be achieved, establishing an important new civic landmark architecture within the town. Metalwork and glazing systems are bronze coloured powder coated aluminium, and Irish limestone paves the surrounding ground surfaces.
We called for a “landmark” building to serve all ages and needs; a “cradle to grave” clientele. The vision was to unify the performing arts, the literary arts and the visual arts in a single complex. The architects have delivered a building in which the people of Ennis and the county can come together as one community seeking space and opportunity to meet, study, research, read and play. The DeValera is now viewed as the new library standard for large rural towns in Ireland.
Keith Williams Architects is one of the UK’s leading architects working internationally across a broad range of sectors for public and private clients.
The multi-award winning firm headed by Keith Williams and Richard Brown, is a leading designer of museum, gallery, library, civic, performing arts buildings and universities.
In the UK the Marlowe Theatre complex in Canterbury, the Novium Museum in Chichester, and the Unicorn Theatre in London are noted works and the firm is working on the upgrade of the university library at the University of Sussex originally designed by Sir Basil Spence and now listed Grade II*.
The firm’s projects in Ireland in addition to the DeValera Library include the National Opera House, Wexford, Clones Library & County Library HQ, and Athlone Civic Centre, the Luan Gallery for Contemporary Art and Army Memorial, all in Athlone.
The firm has received over 40 national and international design awards and its work has been published worldwide
