Ned O’Shea & Sons (Construction) Ltd excelled itself with its successful delivery of The Day Place community-led conservation project in Tralee, which is one of two projects the long-established Kerry builder has been shortlisted for at the 2022 Irish Construction Excellence (ICE) Awards.
The Day Place project is a finalist in the ‘Public Building’ category, while Ned O’Shea & Sons has also been nominated in the ‘Residential – Social & Affordable Housing €3m-€10m’ category for An Cillín, which is a small development of accessible and age friendly housing in Tralee. The Irish Construction Excellence Awards are the original and premier recognition of performance excellence for the contracting sector in Ireland, and provide an opportunity for the industry to showcase and reward best practice across the full range of construction disciplines and project categories.
“We’re delighted with the nominations,” says long-serving Ned O’Shea & Sons Quantity Surveyor Diarmuid Dineen, who project-managed The Day Place project.
“It reflects well on our company and our sub-contractors that we have been shortlisted in not just one, but two categories. I was very pleased with how The Day Place conservation job turned out. More importantly, the client – The Day Place Residents – were extremely happy with it.”
The Day Place project related to a terrace of 10 three-bay, three-storey over-basement protected structures in Tralee. The buildings were constructed from 1803 onwards and are located within a designated Architectural Conservation Area in the Tralee Town Development Plan 2009-2015. All 10 properties had been the subject of a condition survey that was funded by the Heritage Council and Kerry County Council in 2019.
Arising from that survey, the Council was made aware that a common issue facing all 10 protected structures was the condition of their public interface – namely historic wrought and cast-iron railings that formed the front boundary of each site with the public footpath. Many of the railings suffered from loss of historic fabric (finials, uprights, horizontal members, gates and gate hinges, and locks) as well as areas of corrosion throughout. The extent of corrosion also caused damage to limestone caps in which the railings were inserted. This caused the caps to crack.
Steps to the front door of each property were also showing signs of settlement and lack of consolidation. Kerry County Council applied for funding to the Heritage Council in 2020 under the Historic Towns Initiative to address these issues and was successful. A key component of this project was the need to adhere to best practice in architectural conservation for each of the 10 protected structures as the Architectural Conservation Officer of Kerry County Council required this approach throughout the project.
A specialist subcontractor who was a member of the Irish Artists Blacksmith Association was employed by Ned O’Shea & Sons to meet the client’s requirements of best practice in conservation. This was specified by the Council.
The key outcomes were restoration and conservation of railings to the front of each property. This involved careful removal of each set of railings by hand, relocation to the blacksmith’s forge, conservation and restoration work was completed and each set was repainted before re-erecting on site. When restoration took place, this was on the basis of a careful and considered collaborative approach with the owners, contractors and Council where all restoration was on the basis of research rather than conjecture.
Damaged capping stones were removed and then re-laid or replaced where conservation could not be accommodated. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, these stones were sourced from a local headstone company. Where needed, each stone was drilled to accommodate the insertion of the railings. Limestone steps to each front door were re-laid in lime mortar. These steps had been originally constructed over brick arches.
It was discovered during the project that these arches had lost cohesion as joints had been washed out over time. The arches were also re-pointed to provide consolidation. A plinth wall running the full length of the terrace was re-plastered using lime plaster. Basement areas which had been in a very poor state of maintenance were cleared out and basement walls were plastered in lime plaster. These approaches complied with the Council’s requirements for best practice.
An innovative approach to the project was the plasterers’ willingness to try different techniques to achieve a high standard of work which involved using a dosing gun to achieve precision in applying mortar when finishing off the project. The total project value was €232,000.
Conservation methodology, Covid and Brexit were some of the key challenges faced by Diarmuid and his team. As protected structures, a conservation-led approach to all elements of the project was required. Typical construction methodologies would not have been accepted by the County Council or, indeed, the individual building owners.
The pandemic presented an unexpected challenge which the contractor met head on. The Historic Towns Initiative grant scheme required the project to be completed by the end of October 2020, but Ireland (and the UK which was the source of wrought iron for the project) entered into lockdown in March 2020. There were delays of labour being allowed on site and sourcing specialised materials was problematic.
As already stated, a local headstone company was used to provide limestone caps as the usual supply chains weren’t in a position to do so. Ensuring good project management throughout meant the project was complete on time for the Council to recoup their grant from the Heritage Council. The tight timeframe also added to the challenge, particularly in terms of lime work in autumn.
In summary, the project demonstrates how communities, the local authority, the State and the construction industry can deliver high-quality rejuvenation projects to revitalise Ireland’s historic urban area. The client’s Architectural Conservation Officer stated that “the project showcases the best of Irish conservation work, executed to an excellent standard with a strong attention to detail.”
She has highlighted the Day Place project at national conferences as how she believes urban centres can be supported. The improvement to the public realm along the street edge has resulted in significant positive project outcomes for these protected structures. The poorly maintained basements, rusted railings, cracked limestone caps, damaged plinth walls and collapsing brick arches are gone. The contractor has left conserved wrought and cast-iron railings, a unity of finish, high-quality lime rendering to walls and basements, consolidated steps, and has ensured the buildings’ rejuvenation for the future.
Ned O’Shea & Sons is also delighted to be a finalist in the Irish Construction Excellence Awards for its successful delivery of An Cillín, a scheme of 21 age friendly and accessible houses designed by Kerry County Council’s Housing Capital Unit.
This development provides safe and secure housing, designed to meet the needs of older persons and persons with a disability, enabling them to live independently within the community. A re-interpretation of Irish vernacular architecture, the dwellings are arranged in clusters framing high quality, landscaped open spaces fostering community and sensitively integrating with the woodlands setting. A resin bound amenity trail was incorporated into the natural landscape, enabling residents and locals to meander through the development.
With offices in Tralee and Dublin, Ned O’Shea & Sons is a highly-reputable building firm which has been trading for over 50 years. The company prides itself on its high standards and ability to complete projects on time and within budget. Its portfolio of clients include retail, education, medical, hotel & leisure, residential, industrial, commercial, local authorities and all other public bodies.
Ned O’Shea & Sons (Construction) Ltd
Rock Business Centre,
Rock Street,
Tralee,
Co. Kerry,
V92 WR9P.
Telephone: +353 (0)66 7121240
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nedoshea.com
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, August 2022, Vol 8 No 8
