RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Dublin Over €3m

High density and low costs are not negative descriptions, when this social housing scheme is considered. The interplay of levels, which this scheme exploits, provides a new model where privacy and space can be enjoyed by all.

Architect's Comment
When Park Developments and John Sisk & Son won the competition to partner Dublin City Council in the development of a social and private high-density housing development in Cherry Orchard, all parties realised that this was the first development of it's kind in Ireland.

There are 375 homes in Cedar Brook, 30% of which were allocated for affordable housing. The development has been constructed using an innovative and efficient pre-cast concrete system allowing for a rapid pace of construction-a key requirement of Dublin City Council.

What was produced has been proven to be one of Dublin's most successful developments, offering spacious, bright, high quality and affordable housing in a an attractive environment. The homes are planned in a series of three and four-storey blocks, with apartments at ground and first floors and duplex townhouses above. All the homes have their own independent hall door and external staircases are provided to avoid the necessity for internal common areas. All homes have either 2 or 3 bedrooms, and most have private open space.

The spacious design and elegant contemporary form has ensured that the overall development has a very positive and attractive appearance. There is ample parking provided for residents and visitors. The response to the marketing launch has been exceptional with 150 homes being sold within the first three days of the launch. These are the least expensive new homes in the Dublin market. In addition to the real value for money within the development, investors were precluded from purchasing property on the site. The quality is undoubtedly higher than that being found in comparable private new developments with a very high specification being provided.

Clients' Comment
Following the success and integration of the Client, Designer and Contractor at the residential development at Milltown, St. Anne's, the three major contributors PDL/John Sisk and Son Ltd & O'Mahony Pike teamed up to enter into the competition. sponsored by Dublin City Council, to become the Joint Venture Partners for the development of affordable housing at Cherry Orchard in Ballyfermot.

A whole new spirit was formed aimed at bridging the gap between developer/contractor. The relationship was based on a mutual respect for the value of contribution from each party and a removal of generic barriers enabled resources to be pooled to generate a positive approach and outlook for the Project. New ways to improve the overall quality of the process were constantly looked at with endless products, systems, ideas, etc. rigorously investigated in order to make the Project a success. A number of different products were chosen and these, as stand alone products, were not innovative but all together provided a new and innovative project that is successful and, in turn, has led to an improved overall process for all following projects.

The idea of system building or integration of different systems had a huge impact on the
success of this Project. New external cladding panels; bathroom pods were imported from France; external windows and doors came from Denmark; internal doors and frames came from Holland, these were fitted after the units were painted, thus reducing the amount of damage. Similarly with the other products mentioned, there was a clear
reduction in snags due to the good quality products that were produced in a factory controlled environment. The introduction of these finished components also led to a
design freeze as you cannot delay decisions with a production line waiting. This helped in moving forward on a constant basis.

The result is a highly successful Project as regards to time, cost, quality and safety as participants have moved forward to create an innovative project.