This inky black cube developed by De Siún Scullion Architects for Dublin’s docklands reveals Ireland’s present oil consumption and future renewable energy targets .
Measuring 4.2 metres cubed, the volume represents the 473 barrels of oil consumed in Ireland each 5 minutes.
The pavilion is clad in panels of glossy black toughened glass, in reference to the viscous liquid, and resides on Hanover Quay, an location of Dublin’s docklands by the River Liffey.
Local architect Declan Scullion won a competition run by ACE For Energy – an EU-funded physique promoting the uptake of renewable vitality – to layout the 5CUBE Vitality Pavilion.
“The concept behind the pavilion was to build an very easily replicable symbol of consumption, which could be scaled up or down, and would confront the public with the existing rate of fossil fuel depletion,” explained Scullion, who co-founded De Siún Scullion Architects with Mícheál de Siún in 2014.
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Two mirrored bands positioned on the east and west sides of the cube. The 50-centimetre-large horizontal strip on the eastern face is designed to represent the amount of naturally sourced energy that is presently utilized by the country.
On the opposite side, a considerably thicker segment depicts the government’s renewable energy target for 2020.
Inside this greater band, mirrored facets are angled inwards in the direction of a hole that permits site visitors to peer into the interior of the box. The view is a fragmented reflection of the sky, manipulated with a lot more mirrors to create the illusion of a globe.
The architect sees the sky as symbolic of the wind, sun and the rain, and their likely to be harvested to produce vitality.
“The sky has been selected as a indicates of representing all the a number of forms of renewable energy in opposition to the glossy black glass mass representing oil,” explained the architect.
“The sky was thought to be appropriate as so a lot of renewable vitality sources are a direct or indirect consequence of the forces of nature.”
The pavilion is created to be easily dismantled and is ballasted to its short-term location by a number of sand-filled boxes, so it can easily be moved when necessary.
Solar panels mounted on the roof of the framework give an independent vitality supply to power the lights that illuminate the interior of the pavilion.
“The thought is that the installation may seem somewhere new overnight and then disappear once more a surreal and silent monolith,” mentioned Scullion.
Task credits:
Architects: De Siún Scullion Architects
Structural engineers: Casey O’Rourke Associates
Electrical engineers: IN2 Engineering Design Partnership
Contractor: Townlink Construction Ltd
Plan 
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