Griffith Wood
Award winning development provides high quality residential units for the Marino suburb of Dublin
Case Study5 min read
Seamus Heaney Centre
A home for one of Ireland's beloved poet's treasured poetry and books
This haven for the arts includes a large exhibition area including a library, art studio, café area, a 160-seater theatre and creative outdoor space.
A recipient of 1995's Nobel Prize in Literature, Seamus Heaney was one of Ireland's greatest poets; he was also a playwright, translator and lecturer. A native to Northern Ireland, he was raised in Bellaghy, Derry and later moved to Dublin.
Following his death in 2013, permission was granted by Magherafelt District Council for the state-of-the-art Seamus Heaney Interpretive Centre on the main street in Bellaghy. The fomer PSNI Station site was transformed into a facility to welcome up to 50,000 visitors each year.
The new haven for the arts includes a large exhibition area which houses a selection of Heaney's personal belongings. The £4m facility houses more than 2,000 books and reference materials from the personal library of the late poet.
It also features a library, art studio, café area, a 160-seater theatre and a creative outdoor space. The project architect was W&M Given and the building contractor was Brendan Loughran & Sons. Tandem Design managed the interpretive element of the project.
We were delighted to be a part of this project, designing a bespoke tapered insulation roofing system for the Interpretive Centre. Thermataper TT46 tapered insulation scheme was designed to fall the rainwater to both insulated gutters and directly to rainwater outlets. This meant accommodating multiple drainage solutions with a mixture of straight falls, hips and valleys all to ensure the quick removal of rainwater from the Centre’s roof.
The total roof area is 1,236 m², with the tapered insulation thickness ranging from 60 mm to 255 mm and an overall fall of 1:80. Use of the Thermataper System allowed the roof to achieve an average U-value of 0.18 W/m²K. The tapered insulation and membrane were also fixed with thermally broken telescopic tube fasteners, and waterproofing was provided through a SIKA Trocal Single Ply Membrane.
For the floors, 1,710 m² of Thermafloor TF70 was installed. While such a large floor area can achieve a reasonable U-value without insulation due to the thermal resistance of the ground, utilising Thermafloor TF70 significantly improves the thermal resistance and provides a consistent level of performance across the floor area.
Over 1,400 m² of Thermawall TW50 was used to insulate the cavity walls, achieving a U-value of 0.19 W/m²K, and a further 715 m² of Kooltherm K7 was used. Kooltherm K12 for timber and steel framing systems was also used.
Page updated 18/07/2025
ProductsKooltherm K3 Floorboard
Finally, 140 m² of Kooltherm K3 in a thickness of 100 mm was used on the semi-exposed floor sections, and installed between timber floor joists.
The £4m facility houses more than 2,000 books and reference materials from the personal library of the late poet. Its Interpretive Centre features a bespoke tapered insulation roofing system, with other insulation boards used in the walls and floors.
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