The project was developed by the Health Service Executive in accordance with the guidelines of “A Vision for Change.” This purpose-built 50-bed inpatient unit offers accommodation for patients with mental illnesses who require assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation.

Situated within the grounds of Galway University Hospital, the facility occupies the area of an existing surface car park, adjacent to the Enable Ireland Building, residential properties, and the hospital’s energy centre. Access to the facility is available through the campus’s main entrance.

The project was carried out in two phases. The first phase was the construction of a new multi-storey car park (238 parking spaces) to accommodate the displaced car parking spaces resulting from the AAMHU development. The new car park is located adjacent to the Pathology Building.  It is accessed from the north main entrance off of the Browne Roundabout. It was constructed using long span (15m) precast hollowcore units on precast columns and beams on insitu pad footings on lean mix to rock.  The long span solution minimised the amount of columns required thus allowing to maximise the amount of car parking spaces.

The second phase comprised the construction of the new 50-bed unit with a total area of 4,700m2.  The two-storey building features precast load-bearing walls along with precast floor and roof slab systems. The non-load-bearing partition walls are made of masonry. The ground floor consists of an in-situ concrete transfer slab supported by steel piles anchored to rock.

Due to the tight spatial constraints of the site the diversion of existing services which included a 450mm diameter foul sewer, a 350mm diameter pumped rising main, a 450mm diameter storm sewer, 200mm diameter watermain and MVLV cables proved quite a challenge for the design team. Months of careful design and planning meant that the diversions went in without unforeseen circumstances arising.

The entire project was executed using Building Information Modelling (BIM) at Level 2.