Specialising in hotel, restaurant and leisure construction and renovation, Opus Construction boasts an unrivalled track record in revitalising commercial interiors across Munster. Building Ireland touched base with co-founder/proprietor Brian Nolan for an update on this industry-leading operation.
Since it was established in 2013 by John Guiney and Brian Nolan, Opus Construction has forged a stellar reputation as one of Munster’s go-to contractors for the efficient and value-added delivery of high-quality commercial capital projects, leveraging its founders’ extensive carpentry backgrounds, construction experience and problem-solving prowess to consistently deliver exceptional finished projects that invariably exceed client expectations.
Over the past 13 years and counting, Opus Construction has never shied away from awkward jobs that require some extra brainpower or ‘thinking outside the box’. To the contrary, the more complex and challenging the puzzle is, the better, as far as Brian and John are concerned. Thus, backed by ingenuity and excellent workmanship, the company has successfully carved a niche for itself as a complex Capex projects contractor:
“In the past twelve months or so we’ve been focused a lot on the hotel side of things,” notes Brian. “The nature of the work we do is such that you tend to get blocks of a certain type of project. For example, you could be doing bedroom renovations for twelve months and then you might not get another one for two years, or three jobs in a row might be restaurants and then you move onto something else.”
The beauty of the Opus Construction approach is that typically it is going to save clients both time (i.e., less downtime) and money in the long run, as Brian explains: “Although we’re not a mechanical contractor, a lot of the work is based around mechanical solutions and a lot of times it’s vendor-led. They come to us with a problem, say for example a boiler has reached its end-of-life and needs to be replaced but they don’t want to shut the hotel. We’ll look at the work that needs to be done and come up with a number of options.
“We’ll come back to them with a proposal or strategy on how best to implement a plan without affecting occupancy or revenue … or that minimises the impact on occupancy and revenue. That’s where the work we do differs from your typical builder. There’s an element of planning and problem-solving, where often we draw up a number of alternative options and let the client choose which one works best for them.”
A case in point is the 60-bedroom hotel that Brian and John and their team are currently working on. The hotel is linked to four gas boilers in a plant room and the system is near end-of-life and at risk of failure. “The initial option they had was a costly five-week shutdown of 60 bedrooms, so we looked at it and came back with four different options, each with its own pros and cons,” Brian reveals. “The solution they settled on was to create a new plant room offsite with four new boilers pre-installed, which we crane-lifted into a new steel structure on the roof of the building.”
This approach reduced the shutdown of the bedrooms from five weeks to three days with only a 10 per cent increase in the combined mechanical, electrical and building budget – a win for all parties!
“The job previous to that was for hot-water storage for 70 bedrooms and this time the initially-proposed shutdown was even longer,” Brian continues. “To strip out the old plant room and put in a new one was going to take twelve weeks, but we came up with a method of connecting the dots between the old plant room and the new one, through the restaurant and kitchen, and we only had a twelve-hour shutdown, which the client was very happy with.”
Opus Construction can work with a client-appointed mechanical contractor or their own and will take on the role of PSCS (Project Supervisor Construction Stage), liaising fully with front of house and ensuring strict adherence to all Health & Safety regulations.
Where vision meets craftsmanship, Opus Construction specialise in revitalising all types of commercial interiors, transforming business environments into modern, functional and visually compelling spaces. With extensive experience in the industry, they deliver high-quality renovations tailored to the unique needs of a wide range of sectors, including hospitality, dining, corporate, retail and leisure.
Opus Construction work across Munster predominantly, serving counties Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Clare, Kerry and Kilkenny. Their expertise extends extensively to hotels – where they reimagine lobbies, guest rooms and amenity spaces – restaurants and cafés – where they create inviting and efficient dining environments – office spaces – where they enhance productivity and aesthetics – and entertainment and wellness venues – where they craft dynamic and engaging atmospheres.
Additionally, they design and construct outdoor areas, such as patios, terraces and courtyards, that seamlessly integrate with their surroundings.
No two jobs are the same and each presents a unique challenge. “A dental client might want to find extra space in their practice to put another chair in, where there is no space. So you work with them to effectively create space out of nothing.
“It all comes down to creativity, scheduling and programming. Coming back to the client with options and letting them weigh up the pros and cons of each. Option A might be the most expensive outlay but it could save money on the other side. We get a lot of repeat work from PM teams that we’ve worked with before on previous jobs.”
Brian and John are both hands-on and dovetail perfectly together with their skillsets and attributes complementing each other, the former a cabinet maker by trade and a stickler for detail, the latter having worked extensively on roofing, ground works and carpentry and a strong presence when it comes to motivating the team and keeping jobs moving. “He doesn’t do what I do and I don’t do what he does but we work very well together,” says Brian. “We’ve know each other since we were both subcontractors working together on the same job going back to 2004 and there has never been a cross word between us in all that time.
“We are on the ground and we can make decisions fast. We are able to work fast and efficiently and to make changes where they need to be made. My philosophy is old-school in that builders shouldn’t be seen and the operational side of the hotel or business has to take priority. You can’t treat a hotel like a normal building site and you have to plan everything down to the finest detail to minimise disruption.
“So you look at check-in times, check-out times, what are the peak periods? Just because it looks like a job needs to be done in May that doesn’t mean it needs to be done in May!”
With a commitment to precision, efficiency and craftsmanship, Opus Construction work closely with clients, architects and designers to bring each project to life. From concept to completion, they focus on delivering results that align with clients’ vision, brand identity and operational needs. The team at Opus Construction don’t just renovate spaces: they create environments that inspire, engage and elevate the customer experience.
Opus Construction,
North View House,
Gurranes,
Templemartin,
Bandon,
County Cork.
Tel: 087 7610400
Email: [email protected]
Web: opusconstruction.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September 2026, Vol 12 No 9
