The facility is located on a brownfield site along Balloo Drive in Bangor, formerly a lacklustre link between ring roads.

Contextually, the size of the scheme is large. The designers identified the facility’s substantive form as key to the re-stitching of a somewhat frayed piece of urban fabric, believing that its size will give the locale some much-needed definition and identity. The efficiency of vehicle movement required within, overlaid with pedestrian circulation patterns and site conditions, dictated the form further.

It was seen as important that this facility would have its own architecture – a principle shared and adopted by the client body. The philosophy behind this was that the waste industry has for too long been housed in buildings which are products of utilitarianism at best, or short-termism at worst, and this is reflective of the values that society has placed on waste and its management.

The design challenges that perception and asserts that waste management is a high-agenda, clean and modern business-based industry, which should relate on a civic level with society. As a result the new facility is vibrant, boldly intentional in terms of size, shape and colour, and challenges perceptions of the waste industry – by its own staff and the public alike.

Renewable energy

Beyond the choice of the site, the scheme is designed to be self-sustaining in its day-to-day life. It uses solar thermal panels for heating, 900 sq m of photovoltaic surface generating electricity for all lighting, an 850KW wind turbine for general power to all plant, and a 72,000-litre rainwater-harvesting tank for wash-down facilities.

Sustainable construction

The project reduced CO2 production during construction by specifying GGBS concrete mixes throughout. These ranged from a 36% mix right up to 75% slag content. The site is drained entirely via a Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) consisting of slow-flow ponds and swales, while also rejuvenating a nearby wood and pond landscape.