WATER FEATURE AT THE DLR LEXICON

11/10/2023

The attractive water feature takes up a 1.5m change of level and is full of movement and interest. The central island provides ventilation for the car park, which is obscured by bamboo groves.

dlr LexIcon is a new public library for Dún Laoghaire designed to provide a new landmark between the town and coastline. The four-storey structure was built into the existing slope creating two ground floor areas and a pair of quieter upper levels that offer a mixture of both social and intimate spaces. 

The building re-interprets the traditional idea of a library by delivering a cultural, modern building that encourages social and community interaction as rigorously as it facilitates enquiry and learning. The library will also house separate reading rooms, a junior library, an auditorium, a cafe, an art gallery, a history department with study spaces, as well as staff facilities.

While renewable sources provide the primary energy for the building, gas-fired and biomass fired boilers supply the heating.

Nine wind cowls provide ventilation from a passive system that uses the wind and the stack effect to generate fresh air and extract stale air to and from every room in the building.

It also provides for heat recovery and has been developed to harness natural wind currents to create air pressure sufficient to provide a plentiful and healthy fresh air supply with no energy cost.