Established in 2002 as a design and build glazing contractor, Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd is one of Ireland’s premier commercial glazing contractors, delivering industry-leading façade, window, door and rain screen cladding solutions nationwide and in the UK.
Fully self-sufficient and boasting enduring working relationships with many of Ireland’s leading main contractors, Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd. has, over the past decade-and-a-half, forged a stellar reputation for itself as an exceptional commercial glazing design, fabrication and installation specialist by providing outstanding bespoke services on a wide range of projects island-wide and beyond. We visited their state-of-the-art design and manufacturing facility in Kells. County Meath and spoke to founder / managing director P.J. O’Reilly about the history and current well-being of this exceptional operation.
Offering in-house fabrication of commercial aluminium systems (including fire-rated windows, doors and curtain walling), Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd. specialises in everything from point-fixed glazing, rain screen cladding and powder coating to structural and semi-structural cassette systems, press metal fabrication, stainless steel canopies and brise soleil.
With the capacity to deliver projects of any size and / or complexity, Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd. work with the client from the initial point of contact right through to project completion, providing director-level project management on every job, with a team of highly-skilled and vastly-experienced industry professionals. Utilising the most modern plant, machinery and technology (including the most sophisticated and efficient hardware/ software), Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd.’s capabilities enable them to deliver effective, innovative and cost-efficient glazing solutions.
The company is driven by a crew of up to 40 professional personnel, comprising design engineers, estimators, fabrication coordinators, project managers, site supervisors, fixers and administration staff, all of whom work together coherently to ensure that seamless solutions are delivered from start to finish to exact client specification and with a major emphasis on quality.
With decades of collective experience, the design team – backed by vast architectural knowledge within the construction industry – understands implicitly that a quality finished project requires that all details be strictly adhered to. They strive tirelessly to provide the highest quality service to clients, architects and engineers alike.
Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd. has worked closely with many of the top architects and designers in Ireland and the UK and has a proven track record in producing facades of any size or complexity precisely as designed, with attention to every detail – resulting in all projects invariably being delivered on time and within budget and to the very highest standards.
Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd. have worked on a diverse range of projects across many industry sectors including car showrooms, office blocks, public sector buildings, residential buildings, hotels, retail premises etc.
The level of experience accrued over the past 15 years – delivering facades solutions on projects such as the Olympic Village in London, new Enniskillen Hospital, Waterford Firestation, Department of Defence Newbridge, Tullamore Dew distillery, Pirbright Institute in Surrey, Heritage Golf & Spa resort in Killenard, Samuel Beckett Civic Centre, and many more – means Glass & ALU CAD Ltd is the ideal partner for all commercial glazing projects.
Proprietor P.J. O’Reilly has been prominent in the commercial glazing industry for more than three decades. He had already accrued 15 years’ experience when he opted to set up his own business in 2002. P.J. knew what main contractors and architects were looking for from a commercial glazing contractor and they in turn knew they could count on him to deliver.
Unlike many others, he managed to come through the recession largely unscathed: “We experienced steady growth from 2002 up to date with similar numbers of employees,” he confirms. Maintaining staff numbers during such a drastic economic downturn represents quite an accomplishment – how was this achieved? “We decided to channel our resources into the UK in 2009 when we realised that the downturn was imminent, and we are still active in the UK market.”
Prestigious contracts secured cross-channel have included three years in the Olympic village and work on a number of Lidl and Aldi stores across mainland UK. Meanwhile, closer to home, Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd. also provided rain screen cladding solutions across five storeys on the new £350m South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen (a 317-bed, 53,375m2 unit, which was built under Private Public Partnership with FCC Elliott).
“We follow the work and we tender for all the major contracts in Ireland and the UK. We strive to keep a stable flow of work and to serve all the contractors we work for to the very best of our ability. Thankfully, we have a very strong order book at the moment,” P.J. concludes, looking to the future.
“We have up to 15 projects secured, which will run between 2016 and 2018. We will continue to tender for more work. We’ll keep going from job to job and we’ll endeavour to maintain the professional and reputable role we have achieved.”
Glass & A.L.U. CAD Ltd.,
Unit 10,
Kells Business Park,
Kells,
County Meath.
Tel: 046 9293066
Fax: 046 9293804
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.gacad.com
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, February 2017, Vol 3 No 2
