The facilities provided include a new Iso 8(class 100,000) clean room production facility, cartoning facilities, storage areas, delivery, staff offices, link corridors and staff welfare accommodation. The expansion of the campus also included the provision of a new entrance gateway to the site, providing a significant new public interface between the Bausch + Lomb campus and the wider community.
The creation of a manufacturing space, particularly in a large-scale clean room environment provides a particular architectural challenge, as the product manufacturing requirements and the human operatives requirements are very divergent. Therefore, the ambition of the design team and the client was that the needs of the manufacturing process and the team who operate the process would both be met, providing an environment where people could enjoy working on a sustainable daily basis. These two divergent requirements were met by the creation of bright, light filled manufacturing spaces where every opportunity to introduce glazing and natural light has been taken, maintaining the specific environmental manufacturing requirements.
The circulation areas were seen as natural arteries where the use of natural light could be fully exploited, allowing an opportunity for building users to engage with the external environment whilst moving through the building. The design concentration on the use of natural light ensured the character of the circulation areas and entrance concourse are constantly changing as light and shadows move and alter dynamically. The provision of a continuous visual and physical link between the internal and external environment was central to the design concept.
The new public interface with the Old Kilmeaden Road was celebrated by the creation of a new entrance to the Bausch + Lomb facility at Area 9. This organically shaped entrance plaza is framed by a curved sandblasted concrete wall forming the enclosure to the new entrance plaza and the spine wall of the new entrance concourse to the Area 9 facility, providing a visual and functional separation between the public and private realms of the facility.
The entrance plaza is carried out in high quality hard landscaping materials including local blue limestone and sand blasted concrete. The hard landscaping and curved sandblasted concrete spine wall are set into a beautiful wild planting scheme which provides a soft edge to the building entrance area and biodiversity to the site. Thoughtful plant selection and distribution was used to encourage biodiversity on the site and can be enjoyed as staff and visitors enter the building and move through the internal circulation areas.
The Area 9 Expansion to the campus has met with a tremendously positive reaction from Bausch + Lomb management and staff. The key to this success has been the successful marriage between its demanding manufacturing function and the creation of a light filled internal environment for the team members to sustainably enjoy their working day. The Area 9 Expansion has provided a flagship outward looking building for Bausch + Lomb and welcoming public face for the Bausch + Lomb campus.
The layouts have been developed to ensure maximum integration with the existing plant from a functional and aesthetic perspective. Key to this was developing an integrated strategy for the movement of people, materials, and waste to and from the expanded facility, and for this to be achieved while the existing Bausch + Lomb facility remained fully operational on a 24/7 basis.
’The latest addition to the Bausch + Lomb campus in Waterford achieves its design intent with professional flair. The capacity expansion building is functional (Med Tech device manufacturing) and welcoming (bright and open, garnished with green spaces). The design optimises the building position on the site with a statement entrance and new linkage to an external road. The Design and Construction Teams have delivered a facility that allows us to concentrate on our core business (contact lens development and production) in an industrial environment which is refreshing.‘
Stephen Doyle, VP Contact Lens Technology
