The iconic Project Fitzwilliam Building on Fitzwilliam Street Lower, Dublin 2 is a stunning new commercial building delivered by PJ Hegarty & Sons on behalf of the ESB. Completed over four years, David Gogarty was a Project Manager on the multi-million redevelopment. David was recently named as the Project Manager of the Year at the 2022 Irish Construction Industry Awards.
David was based on site for the duration of the project, having initially been involved at tender and during the pre-planning stages. The city centre project was very complex and logistically challenging, requiring detailed technical ability as well as managerial oversight. Successfully completed in 2021, Project Fitzwilliam is a 45,000m2 development comprising two commercial office buildings. As part of the project, the protected historic Georgian houses on Mount Street were also restored and refurbished into modern, high-quality residential properties and office space.
Since qualifying from DIT, Bolton Street as a Structural Engineer, David has worked across a diverse range of civil and structural projects in both Ireland and Australia. His previous roles have included design engineer, project engineer and project manager on both public and private large-scale construction projects.
The affable Dubliner joined PJ Hegarty & Sons as a senior project manager in March 2017. He is delighted to be on the shortlist for Project Manager of the Year and is quick to pay tribute to his employers and work colleagues.
“This project is a flagship project for PJ Hegarty who gave me tremendous support throughout. I can’t speak highly enough of them and the team I worked with on site. It was a real team effort, both the site team and PJ Hegarty support team back in head office, everyone was involved to deliver such a high quality building. A lot of long days and nights were spent on site and it’s great to be recognised in this way. The project has already won a number of awards. It’s very satisfying to see the finished product,” says David, who is currently working on the new Treasury Annex Building for the Ronan Group.
In his role as project manager on Project Fitzwilliam for the ESB, David was focused on the following:
· Developing and maintaining a strong relationship with the client, managing all project stakeholders and design team members. He finds the success of this was built on on open communication, trust and respect.
· Leading and motivating the various parties that made up the project team. A ‘collaborative team’ approach was used to achieve project goals and milestones by creating and maintaining the relationship between the client, design team and construction team. David made sure the teamwork and the training and development of the younger members of the site team was a priority. He believes it is important to invest and to assist in developing their skills and provide valuable experience as their career progresses.
· PJ Hegarty expended over 2.6 million hours on site. Promoting a positive safety culture on the project was a major priority for David from the outset. He sought a positive proactive approach to safety using the principles of coaching and good communication. He took the lead role in developing this safety culture. He promoted clear vision, direction and leadership that supported safety and ensured accountability
· David promoted consultation and feedback from all stakeholders , using numerous tools as resourceful opportunities to promote communication and consultation at all levels on the project. Project supervisor meetings, daily whiteboard meetings, safety workshops, toolbox talks, RAMS review workshops, safety stand downs etc. Interactive toolbox talks were also developed as a communication platform with the construction personnel for key construction activities and provided weekly contractor initiatives.
· In his role as leader, David endeavoured to include all team members and to foster a spirit of cooperation and work satisfaction as far as possible. Weekly coordination meetings with the principal contractors were held to ensure everyone was aligned and worked together as one team
All of the above was achieved which speaks volumes for David’s leadership qualities.
PJ Hegarty & Sons were appointed by the ESB in 2017 to Design & Build for the Project Fitzwilliam Project, which is one of Dublin’s most iconic buildings. The existing buildings and basement had to be fully demolished to make way for the new structure. This involved complex demolition of the entire existing city block that consisted of five individual buildings all interlinked to each other and book-ended by protected Georgian buildings.
As part of the demolition and double basement construction, there were major temporary works and underpinning schemes required, including the propping of neighbouring buildings. All works were completed with minimal impact and without affecting the operation of the occupied buildings in the vicinity.
PJ Hegarty & Sons successfully completed a high specification of internal finishes to the commercial landlord areas. Finishes included acoustic ceiling systems, Italian marble to reception and lift lobbies, special finish concrete and terrazzo finish to floors and columns.
Externally, large public realm revamp works were carried out with intensive engagement with the public authorities to ensure the successful agreement with all departments within Dublin City Council. Highlights included the granite paving, sculptured water feature, street furniture and extensive soft landscaping. All design approvals with the local authority were coordinated and managed by David and his management team.
The building has achieved an “A3” rated energy certificate and a BREEAM Excellent certificate for its holistic approach to sustainability, and was subject to a life cycle analysis of the materials used within the building fitout.
To meet some of the project’s most challenging aspects, David created and managed a comprehensive stakeholder management strategy and logistics plan with the support of his construction team and the client. This was maintained throughout the demolition and redevelopment of the project, with regular notifications and meetings held with adjacent building occupiers and public bodies to ensure the smooth management of the project in an extremely busy city centre environment. Many critical activities had to take place outside of the permitted planning permission working times and this was agreed with Dublin City Council and relevant neighbour parties.
Significant and complex Temporary Works, demolition and difficult ground conditions, Covid-19 and the need for a detailed logistics and traffic management were among the other challenges that were successfully overcome.
The following are some key stats from Project Fitzwilliam:
Resources
· Total man-hours 2,600,000 hour
Redevelopment
· Combined redevelopment scale – 45000m2gross development area
· Two commercial office buildings and 9No. Georgian properties refurbishment
· Scale of Demolition – 36500m2
· Demolition Material off site 22000m3
· Significant Asbestos material removed
· Bulk Excavation of Material 70,000m3 = 130,000 to 140,000T of material
Substructure
· Perimeter Secant Pile 531No.
· Retention Anchors 178No.
· End Bearing Piles 450No. (900mm & 450mm)
· Uplift Anchors 147No.
· Geothermal Wells – More than 7km of pipework installed as part of the below basement installation (150m Deep)
· 32No. 150m deep Geothermal wells
· Two 50m deep groundwater wells
Steel used
· 9,000 tonnes
Concrete
· 55,000m3
· Largest Pour 1650m3
Façade
· 1,700 Precast Techrete Panels
· 1,400 Windows
· Brick – over 1 Million Hand Laid Bricks used
Other
· Near zero energy buildings
· James’ Street scape revamped with pedestrianised plaza
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February 2023, Vol 9 No 2
