Global Best Projects
Award of Merit Health Care: National Forensic Mental Health Service (Portrane)
Perimeter fencing and other security features are camouflaged at the 16-hectare campus, nestled in the woods.
Photo courtesy OHLA
National Forensic Mental Health Service (Portrane)
Dublin
Award of Merit
Submitted By: OHLA
Owner: HSE Estates
Lead Design Firm: Scott Tallon Walker
General Contractor: OHLA-Rhattigan JV
Structural Engineer: Ronan Stokes
MEP Engineer: JV Tierney
Camouflaging the ever-present security features was a constant at the 16-hectare mental health campus, built on time and below budget primarily to treat an incarcerated population but also to serve the community.
A safe, secure and healing environment—nestled into a coastal forest—was paramount in the design of the 170-bed facility, which offers a gentle approach to mental health care. Some 2,000 local plant species are surrounded by a secure perimeter fence or equivalent building or boundary structure.
During preconstruction, a number of value engineering options were realized. One allowed for ground improvement works, which reduced the original designed volume of cut-and- fill materials to be brought into and off the site. This greatly reduced the volume of construction traffic through the restricted village access, says OHLA-Rhattigan JV.
Some 50,000 cu m of bulk excavation was treated and reused on site. This was a key contributor to secure the schedule and increased the BREEAM green-building certification, says the contractor.
Offsite construction allowed a switch to high-security precast concrete for the structure and partitions, reducing CO2 emissions and waste on site while honing the abilities of local precasters.
ENR 2022 Global Best Projects (PDF)
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