The new office block on Cork’s Albert Quay will be “Ireland’s smartest building” when it opens in two months time, according to one of its new tenants.
Donal Sullivan, general manager of Tyco Ireland, told attendees at the Cork Chamber/Irish Examiner Business Breakfast that there is a “great buzz” among staff at the fire prevention and security specialist ahead of its relocation from CityGate in Mahon pop over to this website.
Mr Sullivan said Tyco technology such as intruder detection, air quality control, cashless equipment and other innovations will be used in their domain, as well as energy-harvesting lifts that are connected to the building’s security clearance.
“Once you get security cleared, you get through the turnstile, you get into the lift lobby and the lift knows where you are going,” Mr Sullivan said.
“It knows where you are approved to go. It delivers you there. You don’t make a selection, you don’t press a button. And it does this in the lowest energy delivery method to get you there.” Employees will also enjoy ‘smart parking’, he said.
“We’ve got our own camera system so that when you go down the on ramp into the building it recognises Tyco number plates, we know how many cars we have in the building at any given point in time.
“We are creating smartphone apps that tell our employees how many spaces are there, aren’t there, whether you should come into this building or park in other locations that we have acquired.”
The design of the building also allows Tyco’s research and development team to use Albert Quay as a testing ground for new ideas.
“We have put parallel wiring into our R&D floor. That means we can play with the building, it is a test bed for us for all that we do around intelligent buildings without affecting the day-to-day running of building,” he said.
Some 80% of the material used in the building, the creation of JCD Developers, AJL Architects and BAM Construction, was sourced in Ireland and all internal fitting was carried out by companies in the Cork and Kerry region.
Recycled material was used throughout, and the ‘gold leaf standard’ eco-friendly design will ensure a 36% saving in energy cost in the lifetime of the building.
“Not only is it the smartest building in the country, but it’s also the most environmentally friendly,” Mr Sullivan said.
The employee’s personal swipe cards will approve — or deny — access to various parts of the building.
“We’ve put it on every meeting room in the building and integrated it with Microsoft Office. You can book a meeting room through a calendar on your PC,” Mr Sullivan said.
“If you’re invited to a meeting you can go with your swipe card, swipe at the door you’ll get in. If you’re not on the invitation list and you swipe at the door you don’t get in. I’m looking forward to using that feature,” he said.
Joe Leogue
Irish Examiner 17.12.2015