Founded by Jim Mullett and John Dempsey, AirconMech is now one of Ireland’s leading Building Services Engineering Contractors. Fresh from winning the SME 50+ Employees Award at this year’s Wexford Biz Awards, the company was nominated for another accolade at this year’s Irish Construction Industry Awards which took place in the Citywest Hotel, Dublin on Thursday, June 13.
It has been somewhat of a winning streak for the company with them winning the coveted Specialist FM Service Provider of Year award at the 2019 Facilities Management Awards. Shortlisted in the ultra-competitive Sub-Contractor of the Year category, AirconMech was also a finalist for Sub-Contractor of the Year at the Fit Out Awards last year and previously in 2015.
“It’s great recognition,” Jim Mullett says of his company’s latest award nomination.
“It reflects well on the quality of our work and services and indeed, on the entire AirconMech team. We have over 100 direct employees and a number of specialist sub-contractors who are the best at what they do. We were very fortunate at the outset to work with world-class clients in the food processing industry such as Glanbia, Dairygold and Danone. This led us into other growth sectors such as cinemas where we continue to work with the Omniplex, Odeon Cinema and Movies@ Groups. Even though we now provide mechanical services throughout Ireland, we’re very proud of our Wexford roots and are committed to supporting local jobs, local industries and local community initiatives.”
With offices in Enniscorthy, Dublin, Cork, Newry and London, AirconMech specialises in the installation and maintenance of heating, ventilation and air conditioning services, delivering first-class mechanical solutions direct to clients, building contractors, fit out specialists and project management firms. The company’s highly-qualified customer-facing teams comprise of chartered engineers, project managers / engineers and design engineers. They are skilled in project management, HVAC design, mechanical services installations and 3D modelling.
Over the past 12 months, AirconMech has continued to lead the way with the quality of its installation and attention-to-detail, while ensuring that its operatives are trained to the highest level. The company has also become fully CIRI-accredited and has trained its inhouse ventilation teams to be fully FIRAS-approved to meet the demands of the fire safety sector.
In addition, AirconMech is now in its fourth year of being ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001-accredited and has developed the parameters and protocols in line with the guidance of its auditors and advisors. This ensures that its processes suit the relevant business, deliver the best results and maximise quality end products for clients.
In recent years, AirconMech has successfully implemented a growth strategy that has time and again proven to be a winning formula. Critical to this success has been combining the specialisation required of building services engineering contractors in the complex mechanical installations necessary in food processing and pharmaceutical plants along with keeping pace with market developments in other sectors. The company is proud to have a portfolio of works that incorporate a blend of repeat business, referral work and new business. Its focus on the key sectors that are strong performers in the marketplace has paid dividends.
The past 12 months has seen AirconMech exceed its largest projects undertaken not once, not twice, but three times with 2 large scale projects in the food processing sector for Glanbia (Belview) and Dairygold (Mogeely) along with the residential development at the former Notre Dame site.
A recent project, this time in the commercial sector, was a fit out for the space sharing company, We Work, in Dublin. This consisted of the fit out of 63,000ft2 of space within Block D of the Iveagh Court campus. The project, for which Structuretone was the main contractor, required the careful reapplication of the existing plant serving the spaces to suit the new layout arrangement. The project took place over five months with a phased handover required to suit the demanding ‘move-in’ dates with the first phase being handed over within 10 weeks of site commencement. An exposed ceiling arrangement was preferred by the client and all services were installed to suit this requirement.
In the hospitality sector, AirconMech has been contracted to supply and install a heat recovery ventilation system for The Marlin Hotel in Bow Lane, Dublin 2. McAleer & Rushe are the main contractors on this 300-bed development comprising a bar, restaurant with full working kitchen, meeting rooms and a gym. The hotel is located on a busy thoroughfare in the heart of Dublin and is being built in a very confined space.
An example of AirconMech’s work in the residential sector can be found at the Fernbank development in Churchtown, Dublin 14 (on the former Notre Dame site). The company has been contracted by Walls Construction to carry out the full mechanical installation on this prestigious development which consists of seven apartment blocks over a large basement used primarily for car parking. The scheme commenced in 2017 and will be completed this year following an acceleration in programme to meet the demanding housing shortage in the capital.
Another project AirconMech is currently involved with is the Brickfield Lane Student Accommodation development in Cork Street, Dublin 8 for Carrowmore Property. Collaborating with main contractor Collen Construction, this is the Wexford mechanical installation services company’s fourth venture into what is an ever-growing sector. The Brickfield project comprises 267 bedrooms and 37 cluster living spaces complete with ground floor public spaces and science and tech spaces. It is a ‘rapid build’ scheme using the Collen Construction ‘Logicwall’ system and will be delivered within 14 months from breaking ground to practical completion.
One of the most high-profile projects AirconMech has undertaken recently was in the retail sector – the Level 2 refurbishment of Brown Thomas’ flagship store in Grafton Street, Dublin 2. This was the second major fit out completed for main contractor McCabe McGinn Construction in the store. AirconMech displayed exceptional workmanship and workforce flexibility to meet the challenges presented, with a round-the-clock presence to ensure the rest of the store remained fully operational at all times.
The project was carried out over four phases and each phase was delivered on time and under budget to the satisfaction of the client. The area developed consisted of general shop floor area to be utilised by various concessions and a new restaurant area complete with a fully functioning commercial kitchen.
AirconMech continues to go from strength to strength, having seen its business grow by a staggering 400% since the recession. This growth has forced the company to develop rapidly and a number of initiatives have been put in place to ensure the quality and value its offers clients is not compromised in any way. The last 12 months has also seen AirconMech take on its first €5m-plus projects in the form of the aforementioned Fernbank residential development and manufacturing facilities for Glanbia PLC in Belview Port, Kilkenny and Dairygold in Mogeely, Co. Cork.
To meet the ever-changing site demands and particularly the speed at which projects are now being delivered, AirconMech has developed a purpose-built manufacturing facility adjacent to its head office in Enniscorthy where it can pre-fabricate plantrooms, boiler houses, risers, manifolds and so on. This allows the company to reduce hot works onsite and provide enhanced quality control with works taking place within a workshop environment. This has been extremely advantageous in the office fit out sector as site fabrication space is usually at a premium.
AirconMech has also developed its own Graduate Training Programme and rolled it out to the various universities and ITs with suitable training courses, and has a cross-functional commitment to the health, safety and welfare of its team members. This is enshrined in the AirconMech Safety Statement. The contractor ensures strict compliance with current statutory legislation by all team members and in particular through its intensive onsite safety management systems which are overseen by dedicated health and safety personnel.
The company was delighted to win the Collen Construction Site Safety Sub-Contractor of the Month Award at the Brickfield student accommodation site in February and the Health & Safety Observation and Completion Award for weeks 3-4 at Glanbia’s Belview site. AirconMech is OHSAS-certified and is working towards achieving ISO 45001 accreditation.
AirconMech (Head Office)
Aircon House,
Kilcannon Business Park,
Old Dublin Road,
Enniscorthy,
Co. Wexford.
Telephone: +353 (53) 9238888
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.airconmech.com
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, August, Vol 5 No 8
