We caught up with Darragh Farrell who works as a Contracts Manager with the Castle Group to find out more about the award nominated group.
The Irish Construction Excellence Awards (ICE Awards) are the original and premier recognition of performance excellence for the contracting sector in Ireland.
They provide an opportunity for the industry to showcase and reward best practice across the full range of construction disciplines and project categories.
The Gala Night is established as one of the most prestigious networking events in the Irish built environment calendar. Ireland’s construction leaders, design and supply chain partners, and clients gather to celebrate the pursuit and achievement of excellence in construction.
Entry to the ICE Awards is open to: Building Contractors, Civil Engineering Contractors, Specialist M&E Contractors, and Specialist Contractors in the ROI. Construction Product Suppliers whose products are available in Ireland and ROI Third Level Colleges offering certain construction related courses.
The Fit Out or Refurbishment Under €5m category is open to Building or Specialist Contractors who demonstrate best practice in the refurbishment (including adaptation and extension), retrofit, or fit out of buildings which have been completed within the past 24 months.
The project can be any type of Building including but not limited to residential, commercial, education, health, industrial, and public facilities.
The Castle Group’s eye-catching work on IDA Ireland’s Global Headquarters, which is located at 3 Park Place, Dublin, ticked all the right boxes as far as the judging panel was concerned and made the final shortlist of four projects.
The Castle Group were appointed to carry out the supply and installation of all internal ceilings and partitions. The Fit-Out was delivered over four floors and consisted of office spaces, full commercial kitchen/canteen, micro data centre, conference rooms, library, work cafes, client business lounge, customer experience centre, break out spaces and a state-of-the-art boardroom.
The Castle Group had a twenty-week programme to complete the works which was a challenging programme for works across multiple floors with bespoke materials and complex geometries to both walls and ceilings.
The acoustic design performance played a significant part in the success of this fit-out meaning the selection of materials was critical to achieve the design brief for the client.
The Castle Group utilised its extensive experience in the fit-out industry to provide early design input and worked with suppliers to ensure the correct materials could be incorporated, procured and installed to meet the program and design brief.
Some of the materials installed included Hunter Douglas Heartfelt Ceilings, Vogl Ceilings and Armstrong ceilings as well as Gyproc partition and ceiling systems.
The Castle Group delivered the project successfully and to the highest quality standards.
“To be shortlisted is just brilliant, we were delighted when we received the news,” Darragh Farrell who works as a Contracts Manager with the Galway headquartered company outlined
“The ICE Awards were an opportunity for us to showcase what the Group is all about and the type of projects that we are capable of doing. It helps us to get our name and brand out there.”
The Castle Group were appointed to the project in March 2019. “Our project team faced huge challenges due to the tight program and the fact that other floors within the building were already occupied but the company had worked on the building on two previous fit-out projects with SISK so we were very familiar with the building and were able to utilise this experience to deliver the project.
“There were some areas inside the building where three different types of ceilings came together. It took a lot of skill and experience on our team’s behalf to get that right. That was something that came back to us in testimonial letters from the main contractors, SISK and the architects, MOLA.
“Another standout feature from our point of view was how seamlessly the project went. We worked very well with Sisk in delivering the project on time. As a Group, we take great pride in the quality of our work and how we always deliver with safety in mind. We are in the fortunate position of being able to put the best people forward and resource a project to ensure it finishes on time and within spec.”
Set up by Managing Director Seamus Brady in 1999, The Castle Group and its workforce of over 300 employees celebrated 20 years in business last year. During that time they have established an enviable reputation as one of the leading interior specialists in the country, specialising in Suspended Ceilings, Partitions, Dry lining, Skimming and Taping/Jointing.
Their core Fit Out Services include: Office, Commercial, Industrial and Retail Fit Outs, Renovations and Refurbishments, Partitions & Ceilings, Taping, Jointing and Skimming
Acoustic Solutions, Wood Panelling, Carpentry Services, Flooring and Glazing.
Complementing their extensive experience in the Fit-Out sector, the Castle Group Modular Division offer a ‘Design and Build Solution’ for off-site POD construction. They manufacture bespoke bathroom PODS for the Residential, Hotel, Student Accommodation and Healthcare sectors in their dedicated manufacturing facility in Galway.
They have a designated experienced team who are committed to delivering high quality prefabricated building components to suit the needs of the modern Building Industry and the in house expertise to work in collaboration with both Clients and Contractors to ensure that the factory produced units can be delivered well in advance of the building programme and to contribute to the fast track delivery of projects.
“The Modular Division was set up in 2018 and is going from strength to strength, we are witnessing encouraging signs of further growth. This area of the business is a big focus for us in 2020,” Darragh revealed.
The Castle Group also have a dedicated team looking after their facilities and project management department where they are currently working with clients such as Avaya, EA Ireland and Medtronic.
Returning to the subject of their nomination for this year’s ICE Awards, Darragh was keen to reinforce what a privilege it is for The Castle Group to be closely associated with such high profile clients as the IDA.
“The fact that the IDA is responsible for all foreign direct investment in Ireland, we are really proud of the project and that our work is on display in such a great organisation,” he concluded.
The Castle Group
Race Course Business Park
Galway
Tel: 091 771823
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.castlegroup.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September/October, Vol 6 No 5
