Features

Over 200 years of Building Excellence

11 Feb , 2021  

In 2020, Collen Construction continued its excellent run of form at the Irish Construction Excellence Awards by being shortlisted in four different finalists’ categories. Senior Contracts Manager Derek McCaffrey filled Building Ireland in on the details.

2020 marks 210 years in business for Collen Construction Ltd, so it’s no surprise to have seen the company pick up numerous awards for their work along the way.

A family owned business established since 1810, Collen Construction Ltd has developed a strong reputation for building quality and excellence.

It has successfully tendered and negotiated projects for a range of clients which include large multi-national corporations, private companies, local authorities and state authorities.

At the start of this year, the company received four nominations at the prestigious Irish Construction Excellence Awards, having picked up the award for Excellence in Health, Safety and Wellbeing in 2019.

The category winners for 2020 were due to be announced at the Gala Awards Event in The Convention Centre Dublin, on March 28th before the COVID-19 pandemic caused them to be postponed to a later date.

“We’re very proud that we were recognised by Irish Construction Excellence Awards again this year,” said Senior Contracts Manager Derek McCaffrey.

“To be nominated for these prestigious awards is an honour because we always take great pride in the work that we do here.”

The four categories which saw Collen Construction shortlisted at the ICE awards were as follows, Commercial Project over €10million (One South County); Fit-Out of Refurbishment over €5million (Life Science Office in Dun Laoghaire); Healthcare Building (Affidea Tallaght) and Innovation in Construction (The Digital Cube).

Derek was the Contracts Manager for the company’s work on the One South County project in Leopardstown, South County Business Park, Co Dublin.

With a contract value of €30 million, One South County is a Grade A LEED Gold and Wired Platinum office development which was completed over a span of 23 months.

It is the first building of a planned office block campus, when complete will consist of three similar blocks located in Leopardstown, South County Business Park, Co Dublin.

Located in a sylvan setting, the design of the reflective glass facades maximises the existing mature park landscape, minimising the impact of the structure on the natural landscape.

The building consists of five floors of reinforced concrete structure over basement. The design boasts two parallel wings connected by bridges over four levels though the centrally glazed atrium.

The building perimeter is glazed with the stair cores clad in limestone both internally and on external perimeter.

The expansive atrium is enclosed by a sloped glazing roof and spider glazing on north and south elevations. The building has a sedum green roofing system with the plant room enclosed within louvred plant screens.

One South County is a landmark building set as the gateway to the business campus and delivers on the requirements of the buoyant commercial office development needs for both international and home grown clients.

“The project started in June 2016 and was finalised in May 2018,” Derek outlined.

“So it was completed in 23 months for the client (Cyril Maguire Infinity Capital) at a cost of €30.5million.”

Completed to full Grade A specification, One South County is a beautiful building that is set in a highly landscaped setting which will offer occupiers the best real estate solution in South Dublin.

It was no surprise to see it shortlisted for the Commercial Project over €10million category at this year’s ICE awards, with Collen Construction including “a lot of drone footage” of the structure in its presentation according to Derek.

Since their establishment in 1993, the ICE awards are the original and premier recognition of performance excellence for the contracting sector in Ireland, providing an opportunity for the industry to showcase and reward best practice across the full range of construction disciplines and project categories.

Government lockdown on March 11th saw the gala ceremony postponed for the first time in its 27 years, with the expectation being that it will be staged at the same Convention Centre Dublin venue in the coming months.

As for Collen Construction, it has been business as usual since construction companies went back to work all across the country on May 18th.

The company has an enviable reputation for building quality and excellence and has worked some of the most prestigious projects throughout Ireland.

Collen Construction works closely with design teams providing a full turn-key service to the client as required and its management team ensures smooth co-ordination of all aspects of the project, including mechanical and electrical services.

The ability to consistently deliver quality and meet client parameters, has often led to Collen forming a partnership approach on subsequent projects with the same clients.

For more info on its building excellence check out collen.com.

Collen Construction Ltd.
Riverhouse,
East Wall Road,
Dublin 3
Tel: +353 (0)1 8745411
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.collen.com

This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September/October 2020, Vol 6 No 5