The Covanta Dublin Waste-to-Energy (DWTE) building is fast becoming a feature on the skyline of the Poolbeg peninsula in Dublin. The external cladding is a feature of the iconic building and the following sets out the story of the involvement of Paroc Panel System in the project. [caption id="attachment_32578" align="alignright" width="300"]l90-power-plant1-1748918 L90 power plant, Denmark[/caption] The Paroc fireproof panel was first considered for use on the Dublin Waste-to-Energy project in 2003. At that time, we were involved with the Danish Architects Friis & Moltke in the design of the iconic L90 power planet in Denmark, which is similar to the DWTE project incorporating walls installed at an angle of 13 degrees. In 2003, Friis & Moltke won a competition on the design of the DWTE plant, in collaboration with DONG Energy, Denmark. Inspiration for the shape of the building is drawn from conch shells. The building was designed to be 194 metres long, 128 metres wide and 52 metres tall. Conch are large sea snails native to the coasts of the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and Bermuda. We were delighted with the opportunity of working with Friise & Moltke and the challenge of achieving the required building shape with our Paroc Panel. A number of years have passed while the project received public attention. In 2010, local consultants had been appointed, requiring new representations to be made in relation to the use of our Paroc Panel on the project.

Meeting requirements and specifications

[caption id="attachment_32574" align="alignright" width="169"]covanta paroc cladding The shape of the DWTE building was inspired by conch shells[/caption] Working to meet the requirements of fire, span capabilities, air permeability, factory mutual requirements and the challenges of a marine environment, our engineers in Finland prepared specifications for a suitable panel. This included the preparation of wind load calculations on panels capable of spanning on average 6m between structural steel without the need for secondary steel in the 52m-high building. Our panel has also recently been used in the Enea power plant in Poland, where one of the buildings is 106m high. The rounded corner feature of the building presented particular challenges and we were asked by the consultants to prepare our recommendations on how this could be achieved. We were also asked to prepare a sample mock-up for inspection by the clients and their consultants. The trapezium was the shape adopted as the solution to achieve the large rounded corners, with trapezium panels diminishing in size from bottom to top and segmented around the corner to achieve the desired effect. Other challenges included the west elevation of the building where the wall is at a 13° pitch from vertical and also at a 97.5° angle from horizontal. This meant that the square ends of the panel would not meet the I-beam supports. The solution here was to cut the ends of the panels with a small diagonal cut, resulting in each panel on the west elevation cut in the shape of a parallelogram. The panel is also used internally to construct the internal firewalls and smokescreen partitions. Because of the complexity of the plant within the building, it was necessary that the plant would be installed before the external cladding. This also applied to the internal firewalls and smokescreen partitions designed to meet external loads until such time as the external walls are installed and the internal walls only then exposed to internal loads.

Uses of Paroc Panel System

[caption id="attachment_32575" align="alignright" width="225"]dublin-waste-to-energy The rounded corner feature of the building presented particular challenges[/caption] The panel was also used on the Ireland’s first waste-to-energy project constructed in Duleek, Co Meath, in 2010 and also used in pharmaceutical plants and data-centre projects where the panel is used to construct roofs, external cladding, internal firewalls/partitions and walk-on and non walk-on ceilings. Paroc Fireproof Panels are produced in Finland using our own stone wool insulation. We produce seven grades of panel, with varying degrees of tensile strength. Tensile strength is possibly the most important feature of sandwich panels, which means that the panels can span long distances between primary steel or concrete columns without the need for any secondary support. The panels are fully compliant with the Europe-wide Construction Products Regulations, which came into play in July 2013. All of Paroc’s Declarations of Performance are available on the Paroc website. The panel is also fully Factory Mutual approved to both FM4881 standard for use externally and FM4880 standard for use internally.

For more information, email panelsinfo.irl@parocpanels.com or call Fiacre Mulholland on 087 74 69 769.