Formwork and concrete specialist CNK Construction was set up by Liam Coleman and Colin Kearns in 2012 and has since grown to employ over 30 staff.
The formwork contractor of choice for many leading construction companies, CNK Construction has earned a reputation for excellence and innovation in recent years. Formwork is the process of providing a temporary structure (shell) to freshly poured concrete, allowing it to cure until it can fully support itself. CNK offers formwork solutions for a variety of structures, including wall formwork, slab formwork, column formwork, single-sided formwork, lift shaft and stairwells, and shoring.
Using the most modern methods of formwork, the Co. Wexford-based company provides solutions for buildings and offices, shopping centres, manufacturing facilities, wind turbine bases as well as for schools, colleges and universities. CNK offers unrivalled skills, expertise and experience in reinforced concrete frame structures and boasts a growing client-base which includes such reputable names as PJ Hegarty & Sons, John Sisk & Son, Adman Civil Projects, Kilcawley Construction, Niall Barry & Co Ltd and Sean Lacey Ltd.
With over 30 years’ combined experience in the construction industry, Liam Coleman and Colin Kearns came together five years ago to establish CNK Construction. Having first worked together on an ESB Networks power station in Co. Galway, they’ve clearly found their niche with the company’s growth and success having surpassed their expectations.
“We weren’t massively busy in 2012 and ‘13, but there has been a big pickup in the last year or so,” Colin explains.
“We pride ourselves on the quality of our work, our adherence to health and safety legislation and our total commitment and dedication to our clients. We’ve built up an excellent working relationship with many of our customers. In this business, if your health and safety record isn’t good, you won’t get the work so a zero tolerance approach to workplace incidents is adopted at all times.”
CNK has struck up a particularly strong relationship with Adman Civil Projects Ltd who they construct wind turbine bases for on an ongoing basis, mainly in Northern Ireland. The Tyrone-headquartered firm has extensive experience in windfarm construction and can provide the complete civil engineering package, including a design and build service.
Colin and Liam also work closely with fellow Enniscorthy-based company Niall Barry & Co Ltd. “We’ve constructed a number of coastal protection seawalls for them along the Wexford and Waterford coastlines, with the most recent being in Passage East which had suffered some heavy flooding before that,” Colin continues.
CNK is currently undertaking the external concrete yard and path works for PJ Hegarty & Sons at the Bristol-Myers Squibb pharmaceutical plant in Mulhuddart, Dublin 15. The Cruiserath site is a 45-acre development on a 100-acre site that is designed as a flexible, multi-purpose high containment (Band 4) highly-automated bulk production pharmaceutical facility. The company had previously worked with PJ Hegarty & Son on a waste-to-energy incinerator facility in Worcester, UK.
Another prestigious project CNK has recently been associated with is the new NUI Maynooth Education Hub. Kilcawley Construction from Sligo was the main contractor on the €10 million project, with CNK undertaking the concrete formwork works. Housing the newly-transferred Frobel Teaching Training College, the NUI Maynooth Department of Education, Department of Adult and Community Education and the Centre for Teaching & Learning, the building comprises four stories, including roof plant area over two blocks which are joined by a double height foyer / atrium on lower levels and functional spaces to link the structure on upper levels. The building comprises a total gross floor area of c. 4,300m2. The works also included services diversions and landscaping works which include new car parking spaces. The building is contiguous with the main pedestrian arterial route which traverses the North Campus and provides the link to the John Paul II Library on the Southern Campus.
“It’s a fully concrete-supported building with no steel in its structure. It’s one of the biggest contracts we’ve carried out to date,” Colin says.
It goes without saying that the team at CNK Construction are passionate about their work and constantly strive to exceed their goals and targets. Built on integrity and trust, the business has become one of Ireland’s leading formwork contractors over a short period of time by delivering outstanding results for its clients.
CNK Construction
Gurteen,
Templeshambo,
Enniscorthy,
Co. Wexford.
Telephone: 053 9105044 / 087 9044746
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, February 2017, Vol 3 No 2
