14th August 2024: Chapman Partnership Architects have gained planning consent for a revitalised museum and new hospitality centre working in conjunction with planning consultant Cunnane Stratton Reynolds and client Mondello Park. The developments will usher in an exciting new era for Ireland’s only FIA graded circuit, protecting the venue’s heritage and safeguarding it for future generations.
Working closely with key representatives from Mondello Park, Chapman Partnership Architects firstly conducted a careful analysis of the site situation, existing business activities and planned future growth. The resulting feasibility study presented a comprehensive set of site wide enhancements penned for the long term, with the immediate strategic approach rationalising business critical elements.
Briefed to create a fitting home for the Martin Birrane Collection, the revitalised Museum of Motorsport incorporates interventions crafted to display 18 iconic vehicles, from Grand Prix cars to Le Mans winning prototypes. A mezzanine will be inserted into the existing museum with atrium cutouts for dynamic viewing. Space for an interactive workshop allows visitors to experience the vehicle assembly process and promotes hands on engagement from partnerships with local education facilities.
Externally the aesthetic is upgraded by installing a rainscreen of perforated metal panels embedded with Mondello Park logos and motifs. A new reception is sited at the most prominent corner, anchoring the Museum of Motorsport in the site context whilst acting as gate keeper to central track access and the proposed hospitality centre.
Located at the heart of the circuit, the Martin Birrane Centre provides a hospitality complex that will allow Mondello Park to achieve significant business growth.
As described by Roddy Greene, Managing Director of Mondello Park:
“Whilst motorsport is our heartbeat, we are also so much more than that. We are a venue for people to experience the drive of a lifetime, a venue for training, a venue for corporates to unveil new products, a venue that educates young people, a venue for the community.”
The centre will host up to 500 delegates and is designed from a 360-degree perspective for a truly immersive experience. Situated at the top end of the racing paddock the design aims to gradate the spatial journey from the public domain to the working side of the circuit. The track elevations give generous terraces and large format glazing that place occupants as close to the emotion of the track action as possible.
The western elevations feature a double height entrance sequence. The building will sit on a podium level, with landscaping from the paddock side acting as a device for informal seating, car display and event spaces. The structure is cloaked in a dramatic roof form, devised to offer overhangs to the terrace areas and embodying the dynamic movement of motorsport, integrating a visual link from the racing machines to the built form.
Commenting on the project, Zac Chapman, Chapman Partnership Architects' Director, said:
“We are privileged to have worked with Mondello Park and proud to have created our vision to enhance this important and historic place. The elements have been conceived as independent parts of a holistic scheme and will create an integrated set of flexible assets that contribute to a cohesive venue.”
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About Chapman Partnership Architects
Chapman Partnership Architects specialise in experiential design of buildings for the automotive sector and motorsport enthusiasts. The family practice was formed in the 1970’s and is now headed up by the third generation of Architects. In 2021 the ‘Next Generation’ was launched, fusing 50 years of Architecture with a love of motorsport. Within the practice experience in the automotive, motorsport and events is evident, and having delivered a number of architectural projects specific to these sectors the team continue to carve their niche.
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