The Gregory Centre Ballybough officially opened

The Mitchell+ Associates designed, Ballybough Community Centre was officially opened on 18^th May by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Emer Costello. The Centre was officially named the Gregory Centre after the late TD Tony Gregory in recognition of his valuable community work and contribution to Irish politics.

For more information and images for this project please click here to go to our projects page.

Mitchell + Associates appointed to undertake Cork Docklands Public Realm Design

Cork City Council view the regeneration of Cork Docklands as; 'a key part of the strategy for growth in the wider region in order to meet the objectives of social, economic and environmental sustainability'. The Docklands comprises an area of approximately 162 ha. The long term strategic vision for the Docklands is a new urban quarter in Cork that will revitalise the city through high quality, contemporary design and a vibrant mix of uses. Mitchell + Associates have been appointed to prepare a detailed strategy and vision, and to prepare an implementable scheme to detailed design stage
 

For more on the Cork Docklands click here
 

Ballybough Community Resource Centre Short Listed for Brick Award 2009

Ballybough Community Resource Centre, in Dublin, has been short listed in the Best International Project Category, at the Brick Development Association Awards, which took place in London on the 4th November 2009. The annual Brick Awards is one of the longest established and most widely respected design awards in the UK. The Awards recognise excellence in design and construction using brick. Each year hundreds of entries are submitted and 15 prestigious trophies and more than 50 certificates are issued to the successful projects.
 

For more on the Brick Awards click here or to see more images of the Ballybough Community Resource Centre click here
 

Mitchell+Associates appointed to undertake Wicklow Mountains National Park Accessibility Audit

This pilot project for National Parks and Wildlife Service focuses on the surfaced tracks and footpaths within the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Accessibility is measured against a set of criteria that includes the context of the landscape: from tamed and tempered landscapes through to the wild mountain tops. The challenge of the landscape and the protection of the sensitive habitats of the area remain fundamental to the assessment. The goal is to enable more diverse use of diverse areas of the National Park. The project was won in collaboration with O’Herlihy Access Consultants (lead consultant) and Fionnuala Rogerson Architects, giving an all-encompassing review of services, buildings, car parks and wild landscapes.

Mitchell+Associates on design team for Arab Satellite Organisation Headquarters, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The landscape for the new HQ for Arabsat, in the Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh consists of three key gardens in an arid landscape framed by the distinctive ‘four walls’ of the architectural development by Heneghan Peng Architects. Linear extrapolation of the circulation within the building is used to pattern the landscape and make a framework for the insertion of the gardens and their elements.  The focus is on both the visual quality, and the usability of the spaces. Dealing with microclimate, irrigation, and roof deck loading, the spaces achieve a high potential for adaptive use that can develop with the culture of the organisation.

Image courtesy of Heneghan Peng Architects

Opening of Kilsaran Marketing Pavillion

Mitchell + Associates Landscape Architecture and Architecture departments were approached by the Kilsaran Group initially, to discuss conceptual approaches for displaying paving products that would be coming on line with the construction of a new paving production plant in 2008. The principal design intention behind the building was to create a contemporary structure which will act as an identifiable emblem of the Kilsaran Concrete Company. The landscape takes the concept of a Garden Festival approach whereby a destination display garden would be created. The display garden was divided into two zones to reflect the wide market applications of the paving products. Products of a commercial nature were incorporated into the site infrastructure such as entrance walling, retaining walls, approach road, visitor and car parking facilities and approach to the building. Paving products suited to the domestic market were incorporated into flexible, modular garden pods to display the wide range of paving products in scaled garden settings.

For more see our projects page

Mitchell+Associates on winning team for the Giants Causeway Visitors Centre

The architectural competition for new Visitors’ Centre on the North Antrim Coast was won by Heneghan Peng Architects.  Mitchell + Associates were commissioned to provide landscape services for the project.  The world renowned UNESCO site is iconic and environmentally sensitive so the architectural structure is built into the landscape, restoring the cliff ridge line.  Indigenous planting is used which creates amenable microclimates at the exposed site.  A large grass roof is accessed as part of the progression towards the causeway for which local seed has been collected from the surrounds of the site in order to achieve the visual and ecological context of the local landscape.

For more images click here http://www.mitchell.ie/projects and then select the Giants Causeway Antrim project

Image courtesy of Heneghan Peng Architects

Cork City Landscape Strategy Published

Mitchell+Associates on winning team for Rhine Bridge, Germany

Mitchell + Associates, landscape architects, are part of the team that has won the competition for a new bridge over the Rhine. The lead consultants, Heneghan Peng Architects collaborated with ARUP and Mitchell and Associates to design the winning scheme. The proposed Mittelrheinbruege, crosses the Rhine within the world heritage site of the Rhine Valley. The design approach is to minimize the total visual impact along the river corridor. Though the central span of the bridge, which crosses the river, is important in the context of an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ramps that negotiate the level difference between the required ship clearance and the road levels, potentially have equal if not greater impact for the river valley. In order to blend with the landscape, the crossing picks up on these gentle valley curves to bend the bridge into a smooth yet efficient structural solution that flows with the valley; so gentle that the total length of the crossing is only 5% longer when compared to a straight bridge counterpart in the same location.                                                                                                                                                     Image courtesy of Heneghan Peng Architects

Ballybough Community Resource Centre Gets a Special Mention at the Civic Trust Awards

The recently completed Community Resource Centre at Ballybough Dublin will be recognised in this year’s 50th anniversary Civic Trust Awards ceremony at the Emirates Stadium in London on 18th March 2009. The Civic Trust Awards were established in 1959 to celebrate architecture and built environment design which is both outstanding, and which brings a real benefit to the local community. The Awards are organised by the Civic Trust, a UK charity which champions and campaigns for better places for people

To see more photos of Ballybough Community Resource Centre click here