New Parish Centre provides modern facility to congregation
Project in brief
Our first project for the Parish of St. John the Baptist Clontarf was to design and project manage remedial and restraint measures for leaning gables on the church which is a protected structure.
Subsequently we joined Michael Mohan Architect's Design Team for the new Parish Centre. The new centre was to be located in the grounds of the 1870's Church. An essential element of the design brief was that the new centre complimented the existing church.
The new centre comprises of approximately 750m2 of accommodation including a main hall / badminton hall, minor hall, social room, office space, changing rooms and stores for the various parish organisations. Also included in the project was the conversion of three existing grass tennis courts to all weather courts.
We collaborated with Michael Mohan preparing a Capital Maintenance Program for this historic church.
Challenges
To keep the centre in character with the existing church building the design evolved into a very traditional church style shape clad partially in random granite stone. The complicated shape required the use of a variety of building materials including reinforced concrete, structural steel, pre-cast, timber and load bearing masonry. The main hall / badminton hall is a steel portal frame with an unusual 40 deg pitched roof finished in slate. Other areas utilise pre-cast concrete slabs supported on load bearing masonry walls of steel beams.
As part of this contract it was also necessary to form a new door in one of the church's gable walls to provide a link between the church and the parish centre. The gable wall is approximately 600mm thick, was clad in random granite stone on the exterior, an yellow brick on the interior and filled in between with a loosely held random rubble. To complicate matters more just above the head of the door was a very large stone framed stained glass window and a corbel, which supported a balcony at the rear of the church.
Clontarf Parish Centre
Architects: Michael Mohan Architects
Value: €3m
Project scope:
- New building on protected site
- Tennis and badminton courts
- Leisure and parish facilities
- Work on adjoining protected church
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Key Features
Innovative Solutions
A proprietary slating system that could be placed on standard metal purlins was used to form part of the roof structure. This allowed the contractor the quickly weather the building and also created a safe working platform for the tilers who were working approximately 10m above the ground level.
Engineering New Buildings
For more than 30 years, we at LeeMcCullough have been
providing structural and civil engineering services for new
buildings in the commercial, education, leisure,
retail, and residential sectors.
Key aspects of our services are:
- An open, collaborative, philosophy providing engineering design solutions that are appropriate for the specific project, will support architectural creativity and are cost-effective in delivery.
- A close working relationship with all parties involved; effective team participation; and knowledgeable and experienced integration with other service providers.
- A professional commitment to our client's projects; delivering a flexible and quality service, cost efficient and on time.
At LeeMcCullough we provide senior, experienced personnel supported by the required resources, to lead our involvement in your project, demonstration of our commitment to provide excellent client service with quality / innovative design solutions.
