For the past 12 years, Clarke Construction Ltd has consistently lived up to its slogan, “Perfection is what we regard as a minimum standard”, when it comes to new home builds, extensions and renovations in the greater Dublin area. Managing director Colin Clarke explains more.
Thinking of building your dream home or renovating / extending your existing property? If so, look no further than Clarke Construction Ltd which is one of the foremost contractors of its kind in Dublin.
Choosing Clarke Construction Ltd means choosing a professional builder renowned for exceptional workmanship, attention to detail, value-for-money and a commitment to meeting and exceeding its clients’ expectations. The company’s reputation for quality construction, honesty and ability to complete projects on time and within budget is borne out by the amount of repeat business and referrals it receives from satisfied clients.
New one-off home builds, extensions and renovations are just some of the services offered by the Raheny-based contractor. By providing a highly consultative and tailored service, Clarke Construction is able to bring home the benefits of choice to all customers and can custom design and build your new home to suit your specific needs. The company boasts a wealth of experience in the new home building sector and will guide you through every step of the journey. All costs are crystal clear and transparent. The Clarke Construction team keeps you in the picture at all times.
In summary, Clarke Construction offers you specialist consultation regarding the various options available in a new home, a transparent pricing package with no hidden costs and advice on finance options and land purchase contracts. Clarke Construction is a local Dublin building firm with unrivalled local building expertise.
Home extensions have never been so popular thanks to COVID-19. Extending your home can increase your home’s resale value as well as giving you extra living space or additional bedrooms. Clarke Construction has a proven track record of working with clients to bring their house extensions to a very successful finish. In addition, it can organise an architect to draw up detailed house plans and arrange planning permission if required.
Renovations are another company speciality. Clarke Construction can transform your house into the home you’ve always wanted and remove all the stress and worry that comes with such projects. It provides a full range of tradespeople, thus allowing for the smooth running of every project it undertakes.
The business has gone from strength to strength since it was founded in 2008 by Colin Clarke. It initially traded as Clarke Home Improvements before rebranding and changing its name in 2017.
“We’ve a good name in the trade and pride ourselves on the quality of our work, attention to detail and tidiness,” says Colin, who is joined by an 18-strong permanent team of highly skilled foremen, supervisors, carpenters, electricians, block-layers, plasterers and roofers.
“When people see our sign over a site, it shows that we’re a professional outfit who take great pride in our work. I’d be very particular about the detail and finishing on every job we complete. By directly employing our own staff, it gives us greater control over the finishing, and all of our staff know the minimum standard that we expect. The only tradespeople we don’t employ directly are plumbers. The rest we have inhouse.
“We’re very mindful of the fact that the vast majority of our clients are putting their life-savings into the projects we do for them, and that we have a responsibility to ensure that everything is done to their exact requirements and that they’re getting value for their money.”
Colin values his staff highly, so much so that he continued to keep them on the payroll during the two-month lockdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year.
“Our people are our greatest strength so when the shutdown happened, we felt it was only right that we stayed loyal to them and kept them on full pay. Good tradespeople are extremely hard to come by and I’d like to think that we have a happier workforce as a result,” he explains.
COVID-19 put an unexpected financial strain on many and this is something that Colin and indeed his wife Anne Marie, who also works in the company, felt they had to be mindful of.
“We had clients who lost their jobs or saw their incomes dramatically reduced. We had started projects for them and they were caught in a situation where they needed to get their extension or renovation finished. We tried to bring down the costs for them as much as possible and ease the financial burden for them.”
According to Colin, the pandemic has prompted more people to renovate or extend their homes with the aim of making better use of their space.
“During the lockdown, most of the population were forced to stay at home and it made them think about renovating, extending or rejigging their space. We really felt that with families sitting at home for weeks on end during the lockdown it made them consider how well the space was working for them in today’s world. What worked for families 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago for that matter, may not work for them today as families are using the space within the home differently, and our own home was no exception. We can help and advise them on how to best utilise that space.
“If someone is thinking about buying a new home, we would always suggest buying a house that feels right as opposed to a house that just looks liveable. Inevitably, all families want to put their own stamp on their new home.”
Clarke Construction have a number of projects currently taking place in the capital. These include a house extension / renovation in Dalkey, a large new build house in Kinsealy, extensions / renovations to two houses in Clontarf and a house extension / renovation in Raheny. One of the company’s most challenging projects was a large renovation to a Victorian-style protected building in Clontarf which involved restoring the main house to its original glory and adding a large modern style extension to the rear
Another property that Colin was particularly proud of was a house in Howth which had all living space on the ground floor and bedrooms on the first floor. The architects flipped the house upside down and moved all of the living space to the first floor where there were fabulous views out over Howth Harbour. This was a project where it was all about utilising the footprint that was already there and only adding on approx 8m2 of additional floor area while bringing the house up to an A rated standard. This goes to show that you do not always have to add on a large extension to make a house work for you.
Clarke Construction’s most high-profile project to date featured on RTÉ’s ‘Room to Improve’ programme in February 2017. It involved taking an old family home in Sutton and turning it into a new, modern version that would be suitable for creating new memories for the family concerned. Colin and his team completely renovated what was the existing house and extended the rear of the home with a new L-shaped extension which created a larger open plan kitchen with a lower level living room, complete with stove to allow the family to feel like they could get away from the open plan space and into a more secluded, cosy living room with views of the garden.
Within the house, there were three ensuite shower rooms and one bathroom along with five double bedrooms. All areas were altered to make the new layout more suitable for the family.
“It was a very interesting and enjoyable project to work on. We got a lot of recognition from it,” the affable Dubliner remembers.
Health & Safety has always been paramount with Clarke Construction and never more so than in the wake of COVID-19. Colin ensures that his team follows all the relevant guidelines and takes all the necessary precautions at all times. The health and wellbeing of Clarke Constructions staff and also that of their clients and subcontractors is taken very seriously by the company.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers, suppliers and architects for their support and cooperation,” he concludes.
Clarke Construction Ltd
Unit 4A, Floor 1,
Howth Junction Business Centre,
Dublin 5.
Telephone: 1890 911 007
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.clarkeconstruction.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, January 2021, Vol 7 No 1
