Over the past 33 years, Mealey Architectural Façades Ltd. (MAF Ltd.) has developed into Ireland’s premier provider of bespoke façade solutions. We visited their state-of-the-art County Carlow facility and touched base with director Joe O’Connor to discuss the full range of excellent services provided by this pioneering, award-winning, industry-leading operation.
The new Hybrid Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory and Orthopaedic Theatre at Our Lady’s Children Hospital, Crumlin was named as Construction Project of the Year at the 2016 Irish Construction Industry Awards as well as being shortlisted for the BIM Initiative of the Year at this year’s Irish Building & Design Awards. Between January and April of 2016, MAF Ltd. delivered a full, bespoke curtain wall to this fantastic award-winning project.
Established by Pat Mealey in 1983 as a glass and glazing company, Mealey Architectural Façades Ltd. (MAF Ltd.) has grown through progressive management to provide a full range of bespoke façade solutions encompassing curtain walling; structural glazing and planar glazing façades; windows and doors for commercial, industrial and residential applications; unitised façades; and bespoke flashing and stainless steel works.
MAF Ltd. are approved fabricators and installers of APA Systems; Duco Ventilation and Solar Shading Solutions; Reynaers; Schueco; and Jansen Steel Systems.
Their in-house estimation and design team has accumulated extensive experience and expertise of all elements of façade design, which results in a smooth transition from architect’s drawings to manufacture drawings, ensuring that projects run smoothly from conception to completion.
MAF’s 10,000 sq ft facility in Carlow town is fully equipped, with every element of fabrication barcoded and prepared for fabrication by fully-automated CNC machines and saws. This increases accuracy to the exact requirement of the system providers. Fabricators receive full training from system suppliers, ensuring an excellent product every time.
MAF Ltd. operates from a purpose-built engineering workshop, where facilities include hydraulic shear and press brake (both 3 mm capability; GTAW (T16), (GMAW) MIG welding of all mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium applications; punching, rolling and drilling; direct access to galvanising, wet spray and powder coating process.
In addition to the production of components for MAF Ltd., the company has experience in a number of specialised areas. These include fabrication and welding of structural and architectural aluminium stainless steel and mild steel, stainless steel handrail balustrades including glass balcony and partitions, canopy fabrication and installation of guttering and downpipes, flashing for the construction industry, cover, draining, capping and aluminium insulated panels, and dressing for all stainless steel, mild steel and aluminium applications.
Solutions are provided to the very highest standards to the construction, pharmaceutical, chemical, biotech healthcare, food processing and catering industries.
Boasting an unrivalled track record, MAF Ltd. has worked with a veritable Who’s Who of main contractors, including McAleer & Rushe, Duggan Brothers Ltd., John Paul Construction, BAM Contractors Ltd., Stewart, Collen Construction, J.J. Rhatigan & Company, Kilcawley Construction, Mythen Construction Ltd., Purcell Construction Ltd. and Clancy Construction Ltd.
Joe O’Connor and Alan Murphy took over as directors of MAF Ltd. in 2014, with solutions ranging from a contract value of €10,000 up to €3m being provided across Ireland and into the UK. “We completed work in Chippenham for Murphy International last year and are expecting to get more UK work in the not-too-distant future,” the former notes. “We have increased turnover year on year since ’14 and hope to sustain that level of growth. “Most of our work is for the same 10-15 main contractors and we will keep working for the clients we have worked for in the past.”
Some of the major projects that MAF Ltd. have provided their expertise to recently include Findlater House (New Holiday Inn) on O’ Connell Street, Dublin; the Human Biology Facility at NUIG Galway; Carlow IT; Glanbia Belview Port; Kilkenny Courthouse; and St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny.
With McAleer & Rushe as main contractor, the Findlater House project has a contract value of €850,000. When complete, this building will provide a 198-bed, new-generation Holiday Inn Express Hotel with coffee shop on the ground floor. The site is located within the O’Connell Street ‘Architectural Conservation Area’ containing a mixture of listed and unlisted buildings. MAF is using the APA TB 50 curtain walling system, spanning six floors with extremely complex flashing details on the perimeter of each screen.
The €30 million Human Biology facility at NUIG Galway (main contractor: BAM) is a new research and teaching facility for three university departments – pharmacology and therapeutics, anatomy and physiology. This new 8,200 sq m facility will be located on the south campus, sitting over four storeys and including teaching and research laboratories, lecture theatres, anatomy and mortuary facilities, offices and other ancillary areas. The building will have a reinforced concrete structure and complex mechanical and electrical services installations. Works also include construction of a separate electrical substation. MAF is delivering an APA TB 35HI curtain walling system, spanning four floors with the south elevation containing glass units in excess of 800kg each. West and south elevations will have large elliptical blades (Brise Soleil) fitted, spanning seven metres.
Products used for the complete refurb of Kilkenny Courthouse (McNamara Construction) were Reynaers CW50 curtain walling system, bolted spider glass screen, integrated roof lights and structurally bonded screen.
Meanwhile, St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny City is a landmark project in the Kilkenny area costing €17m, including a new X-ray Department and emergency department over four floors and some 8,620 sq m, linked to the original hospital. For main contractor Walls Construction, MAF provided the APA TB curtain walling system, spider glass bolted screen and a large bespoke flashing package which define the façade.
“Bristol-Myers Squibb in Cruiserath is another big one,” Joe continues. “It’s the largest project going on in Ireland at the moment and there will be 1,800 people working on it. Duggan Brothers is the main contractor and we will deliver a 3,000 sq m curtain wall and glazing solution. The system we will use there is Schueco and Jansen Steel System.
“We’ve done a lot of work for UCD over the last four summers, replacing windows, and we are currently starting a project there on the UCD Confucius Centre, which is being built on the UCD campus as a partnership between the Irish and Chinese governments. This is a specialist building and we’ll be doing 1,800 sq m of curtain wall using the Reynaers system.”
Mealey Architectural Facades Ltd. (MAF Ltd) has reached remarkable highs and is setting the standards for others to follow. This is achieved by implementing high-quality procedures and workmanship at all times. “We meet all programmes and targets as set out by the main contractor and we get the work done on time, at the right price, and of the highest quality,” Joe concludes. “We remain up to date with all the latest technological advancements and use the latest software and systems. We have four in-house technicians and one of those, along with one director, will be assigned to each project, ensuring that it is managed professionally and competently from start to finish.”
Mealey Architectural Facades Ltd. (MAF Ltd.),
O’ Brien Road,
Carlow,
County Carlow.
R93AE94
Tel: 059 9176000
Fax: 059 9176006
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, February 2017, Vol 3 No 2
