Located in Galway on the West cost of the Republic of Ireland and nested on the banks of the River Corrib the 14,000m2 award winner Alice Perry Engineering Building at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) is a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility that has been conceived as a life-sized engineering learning tool. The four-storey building brings together the university's six departments of civil, electronic, industrial, hydrology, mechanical and biomedical engineering conjoined with research facilities, offices, teaching spaces and lecture theatres in order to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration and a holistic learning experience that combine new technologies, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Voted Ireland's favorite building in the Public Choice 2012 RIAI Irish Architecture Awards, the Engineering Building was completed and launched in July 2011, acting as a new gateway to the North Campus of the University as a direct counterpoint to the 1845 Quadrangle building on the South Campus, the building houses 400 rooms, 1,100 students and 110 staff.
​
One of the major challenges of the design was to device a flexible enough functional diagram that was able to organise the laboratories, all of which were of different sizes ranging from small to huge (one of them houses an airplane turbine). In order to resolve this complex requirement and future proof the design a series of linear zones or 'bands' was conceived to fit the critical dimension of the different laboratories into three main categories, small, medium and large, leaving the non-critical dimension of the laboratory to expand and contract as needed. This organisation was then complemented by incorporating two main 'services zones' between the small, medium and large bands thus optimising and simplifying both the service and the structural strategies. The 'medium size band' would then be located facing the street and would accommodate the majority of labs, whilst the 'small band' would be located facing the River Corrib and stacking the body of offices on top, providing them with beautiful views of the river. Between these the 'large space' band would form a green roof courtyard and would house the oversized laboratories that handle heavy equipment including a 5 tone crane.
​
The large teaching spaces would also fit this categorisation and would complete the central courtyard, facing the forest to the north and the atrium to the south. Facing the park and also articulated by the 4 storey atrium the research spaces would sit 'floating' above the main staircase that formed the public areas.
A large viewing terrace and cafe would be accommodated here facing the lifts and activating the space.
In a bid to optimise energy efficiency, the building has natural ventilation systems, a bio-diverse 'green roof' over the central courtyard, exposed construction techniques and a whole array of sustainable and ecological building methods including largescale rainwater harvesting, biomass boiler for energy generation, low-embodied energy materials such as zinc, novel voided slab systems and heat exchangers.
The engineered aesthetic language of the building, with 'cluster columns', floating structure and exposed services challenges the student and visitor to engage in and to understand the engineering principles behind the building's design, which on the other hand reflects the requirement to maintain maximum flexibility for future use, ensuring that internal re-planning can be incorporated by using voided slabs and structure free areas following the principles implicit in the functional diagram.
​
​