As the project was undertaken on a substantial site it was broken down into five zones. The fast track nature of the development required further adaptation of our resources, which resulted in different elements being designed in three different PUNCH offices. This required strong coordination and interface between offices. Delivery of design information to site and the rest of the design team was also aided by the use of a Project Extranet to expedite the issuing of such information.

The Scotch Hall development in Drogheda is located in the centre of the town, at an impressive waterfront location beside the historic River Boyne. The main element of the project is a 24,000m2 shopping centre, which contains an anchor tenant with 743m2 of retail space, and 52 other shops and restaurants. There is also a 4-star luxury hotel – the d hotel – which has 104 rooms, a riverside restaurant and bar, and meeting and business facilities. The residential part of the development includes 140 apartments. Car parking is provided for over 700 cars. The project also includes a footbridge and road bridge over the River Boyne.

The approach to the structural design involved producing various broad scheme solutions at an early stage, for assessment with regard to cost and programme. It was apparent at a very early stage of the design that the time constraint of the proposed programme dictated the use of steel. This meant that the frame could be erected at an early stage, and enabled flexibility for the location of service openings within the structure, which developed at a later stage.
Design was undertaken on draft architectural and M&E layouts, enabling early issue of broad steel information to allow ordering of materials by the fabricator. Due to time constraints, it was necessary to design the piled foundations with a degree of flexibility to allow for design development. This approach provided the flexibility to add an additional floor to the development which was proposed at a late stage of the construction.