dlr Lexicon wins overall award at Irish Concrete Society’s Awards
Excellence in the design and construction in concrete was evident again at this year’s Irish Concrete Society’s Awards Evening, which took place on the 9th of April in the Conrad Hotel, Dublin.
This was the 34rd Awards Evening and the event is always one of the highlights of the construction industry’s calendar with 250 of the construction industry’s finest in attendance. The Awards recognise excellence in both design and construction in concrete. The jury reviewed a total of twenty six projects entered in three categories of main awards – Elemental, Infrastructure and Building. The 4th Irish Concrete Society International Award, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, was also awarded in addition to the annual Sean de Courcy Student Prize and the biennial Sculpture Award.
The main awards jury consisted of Philippe O’Sullivan of Grafton Architects, Jim Sherry of Mott MacDonald and John Pentony of Jons Civil Engineering
Winner – Building Category and Overall Winner
dlr Lexicon Library
Chosen from a total of 11 category entries and 26 entries for overall award.
Jury Quote:
“In this civic building, the use of large elements of concrete was a choice rather than a requirement. Having made this choice the architect and design team have exploited the use of concrete to the full. The large, open well finished concrete elements appear a near-perfect material for the spaces created – finished in areas with oak slats. The massive pre-cast roof beams were a complex piece of construction well delivered. The contractor is also to be congratulated for the overall quality of finish achieved. The extensive use of concrete in this building clearly shows what concrete can add to an award winning building.”
Project Client Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
Project Engineer Horganlynch Consulting Engineers
Project Architect Carr Cotter Naessens Architects
Project Contractor John Sisk and Son
Major Suppliers Kwik Structures / Banagher Precast Concrete / Kilsaran
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Winner – Infrastructure Award
Doolin Pier, Co. Clare
Chosen from a total of 8 projects entered.
Jury Quote:
“This exposed maritime site provided a significant challenge in constructability and in complying with environmental constraints. Concrete is an obvious choice for this structure in this exposed location, combining strength and durability. The innovative step was to use precast construction techniques to construct large fully interlocking sections off site. This reduced the on-site construction time, limiting difficult working conditions and allowing better quality control for the elements which were to be submerged or below the high water line. The overall quality of finish of the in-situ above water deck and wave wall is good, and precast concrete was also very successfully used for wave dissipating x-blocs.”
Project Client Clare County Council
Project Engineer Malachy Walsh and Partners / Punch Consulting
Project Contractor L&M Keating
Major Supplier Banagher Precast Concrete / Cairealacht Cill-Bhride Teo / Ryan Bros (Ennis) / McGrath Quarries
Winner – Elemental Category
Canal House, Galway
Chosen from a total of 7 entries
Jury Quote:
“Concrete is successfully used in this extension of a 1920’s townhouse with very challenging site conditions. The boundaries between inside and out are blurred using the plasticity of concrete to create sculptural space and forms that are both functional and beautiful. The complexity of the in-situ concrete construction, coupled with the quality of the finish for this relatively small project is a credit to the contractor and adds significantly to the overall built project.”
Project Client Private
Project Architect lid architecture
Project Engineer Robert Barry Consulting Engineer
Project Contractor Duane Construction
Major Suppliers Cannon Concrete Products
Winner of the 4th International Award “Crossrail C310 – Thames Tunnel”
An award that recognises Irish companies who export product or service off the island of Ireland. The Award reflects the growing emphasis on export for all in Irish construction and is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland.
Chosen from a total of 8 entries.
Jury Quote:
“To construct two complex tunnels with a total length of about 5.5km, almost 30,000 high quality precast concrete tunnel segments were delivered from Ireland to a site in East London. The judges were impressed with the scale and complex logistics of this prestigious project, with pre-construction full scale verification testing, export of a total of 38,000m3 concrete in over 3,500 articulated loads, and featuring demanding quality control management and with an important research collaboration.”
Project Client Crossrail C310 – Thames Tunnel
Irish Supplier Shay Murtagh Precast
Sculpture Award
This Award scheme enables the Society to acknowledge the work of sculptors who use concrete as a medium of expression. The winner was Mel French with her piece titled “Fleeting”.
Sean De Courcy Student Award
This is an award given to the best masters project on a concrete-related topic from the engineering faculties of the third level institutions.
The award is named after the late Sean de Courcy, an inspirational professor for many years at UCD, a former chairman of the Irish Concrete Society, an author and historian of note.
Winner Donogh Coleman, University College Dublin
Project title Performance of ground granulated blastfurnace slag concretes in acidic wastewater environments.
The Irish Concrete Society is a learned society founded in 1973 to support and encourage technical excellence in concrete. It is a cross-sectorial, independent, impartial, science based organisation. With membership open to all who have an interest in concrete.
The Society acts as a focal point for industry debate, research, education, standards development in the field of concrete technology, design and construction. The Society is a not for profit organisation funded by membership and services it provides.