13 July 2022 · By Richard Waite

Work has commenced on a new 1,130m² public library at Bettystown, in County Meath on the east coast of Ireland, designed by Robin Lee Architecture

The €6.1 million seafront building for Meath County Council will also house a lifeguard station and facilities for beachgoers, such as changing rooms and toilets.

The concrete-frame scheme by the London-based practice will be clad in white precast concrete and feature bronze anodised aluminium window frames to withstand the exposed coastal conditions.

Internally the project will have moisture-resistant finishes, including terrazzo for floors, mineral acrylic for the library’s shelving and counters and yacht paint for door assemblies.

Work is due to complete in October 2023.

Strongly related to the beach and sea, the building is elevated on a podium set above the coastal flood level, which allows for a series of clearly defined spaces for public use and elevated views to the horizon.

Composed of an ensemble of volumes, the building is scaled sensitively to the small-town context so as not to dominate the environment while presenting a bold and legible frontage to the beach.

The building acts urbanistically as a clear landmark, signalling the transition from town to beach. The specific heights of each of the four blocks are determined in response to the scale of the surrounding context in order that the relatively large building form is able to sit harmoniously within the context.

Cumulatively the composition is expressed three-dimensionally as a cluster of volumes that are stepped in both plan and elevation. Rather than a single homogenous and monolithic form, the effect is to create a building with varied height and scale. In this way the discrete volumes of the building are scaled to sit harmoniously with the scale of the local context, comprised generally of individual buildings and in some instances of conjoined clusters of buildings. The proposed building seeks to mediate between the various scales of building in the local area in order to bring coherence to the town centre.

Providing a range of relatively autonomous functions (public library, beach-related facilities and lifeguard station), the objective at ground-floor level is to give distinct expression to the functions through a series of stepped blocks, with an entrance to the core functions contained within distinct blocks. A fourth block contains a community room, which, although part of the public library provision, merits autonomous expression as a key space for collective, community use.

The clustered plan arrangement at ground floor ensures that the building is understood as a single public building, servicing the needs of the community in and around Bettystown and the needs of Bettystown Beach as a significant public asset within the local area.

The site strategy is to establish a compact building footprint related in placement and scale to an existing three-house terrace and large shed, which currently occupy the site. This enables the creation of an enhanced public route from the village centre to Bettystown Beach along the southern edge of the new building. Varying in width, this route creates a series of public space opportunities with a south-facing orientation, encouraging pedestrian use of the town centre.

Public access from town centre to Bettystown Beach is enhanced via this primary pedestrian route that gives access to a series of entrances at ground floor serving multiple activities including public library, public toilets and shower facilities and a lifeguard station directly overlooking the beach. This route is conceived as a ‘boardwalk’ expressed with a consistent balustrade treatment and material palette to signify this important pedestrian link between town and beach. The ‘boardwalk’ opens out at its eastern end to a wide set of steps generously giving onto Bettystown Beach.

Location Seaview Terrace, Bettystown, County Meath, Ireland Local authority Meath County Council Type of project Public library with lifeguard station and beach facilities Client Meath County Council Architect Robin Lee Architecture Landscape architect Robin Lee Architecture Structural engineer MPA Consulting Engineers M&E consultant Douglas Carroll Consulting Engineers Quantity surveyor Nolan Construction Consultants PSDP Chris Mee Group Main contractor Cumnor Construction Funding Meath County Council Tender date December 2021 Start on site July 2022 Completion October 2023 Contract duration 15 months Gross internal floor area 1,130m² Annual CO2 emissions 12kgCO2/m².yr Total cost €6.1 million Form of contract Public Works Contract for Building Works Designed by the Employer (PW-CF1)

Tags Beach Bettystown Ireland Library Robin Lee Architecture

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