Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant
Sitting harmoniously within Arklow’s skyline, the wastewater treatment buildings are as comfortable among civic monuments as they are beside maritime warehouses and quayside shipping containers. From a distance, their prismatic silhouettes – designed as serrated forms clad in cerulean hues – create a striking contrast. Closer inspection reveals carefully chosen materials that allow natural ventilation, provide shelter, and articulate opposing planes. They lend the complex a sense of scale, texture, and depth; re-establishing a visual connection with the coastal environment and declaring the value placed on civic infrastructure and public welfare.
This project exemplifies the civic value that a thoughtful architectural response can bring to public infrastructure. Utilitarian yet delightful, the project team navigated a complex delivery process with commendable judgment, resulting in a facility that serves an essential need, while enriching this coastal town's character.
Challenging conventional infrastructure projects, the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant delivers a considered, sustainable, coastal response. Its louvred design removes the need for air handling, supports local biodiversity, and integrates bird and bat habitats. Occupying less than a third of a typical site footprint, the remainder is rewilded with native species. The once highly polluted Avoca River now thrives as a biodiverse habitat.
The state-of-the-art stacked processes eliminate underground tanks and reduce energy use with just one pumping lift, thus using only a fraction of the energy of traditional waste plants. A solar farm further offsets consumption, lowering the lifetime energy use to just 4 kWh/m²/year. Designed collaboratively, the facility restores a formerly contaminated site and enables Arklow’s future growth, while tripling capacity within existing bounds. This pioneering landmark project showcases how Architects can lead with innovation, sustainability, and integrated design in critical infrastructure.
