Beacon South Quarter is a mixed residential and retail development on a 5.2 hectare brown field site in Sandyford. PUNCH worked on the project from inception in 2004 to include master planning, statutory approvals, tender and construction. Such was the scale of the project, that our initial client Landmark Developments employed three main contractors all working on the site simultaneously, namely John Paul Construction, PJ Hegarty and Laing O’Rourke i.e. two of Irelands largest contractors and one of the largest contractors in the world. At one point there were almost twenty tower cranes on the site and almost 1,500 operatives. With over 23,000m² of upmarket retail outlets, 7,700m² of office space, 2,300 car spaces and 1,100 luxurious apartments, Beacon South Quarter represented a major phase of redevelopment of Sandyford Industrial Estate in South County Dublin.

The development consists of double and triple level basements in granite rock subjected to a high water table, beneath long spanning retail outlets, under office blocks and high rise residential blocks of up to 18 storeys.

The project presented a vast number of complex engineering and logistical challenges. To maximize design efficiency on the project, the full design team relocated to offices in Beacon Court adjacent to the site. This innovative solution meant the client, design team, contractor, and all key project stakeholders were centrally located, which facilitated speedy decision making and design solutions.

Our technical expertise and ability to work closely with the design team and the main contractors, along with their specialist sub-contractors has been instrumental to deliver a project within the construction program restraints, while utilising and developing modern construction techniques in addition to overcoming logistical issues during the development.

Throughout the project we investigated various new construction techniques for use on the Beacon South Quarter project to enhance the development from various aspects such as quality, costs, construction program, and sustainability.

This resulted in mixing conventional structural solutions such as in-situ concrete basements with innovative precast concrete basement solutions, while adhering to the water-tightness design requirements.  We also worked closely with the different main contractors to develop the most efficient jump forming systems for application in the construction of the high rise insitu concrete stairs and lift shaft cores, various precast structural systems for the high rise apartment blocks, incorporate prefabricated bathroom pods, and precast cladding structural systems and the use of high strength concrete (95N/mm²).

Our most recent work on the project has been with our client IRES REIT where we worked on a 68 apartment development. Further work is now planned on the site relating to the completion of the development.