O’Donnell + Tuomey’s St. Angela’s College Wins Overall Award –  Irish Concrete Society

St. Angela’s College Cork by O’Donnell + Tuomey has won the ‘Building Category and the ‘Overall Award’ at this year’s Irish Concrete Society’s Awards. The awards evening took place on 8 April in Croke Park.

The Awards recognise excellence in both design and construction in concrete and are adjudicated by an independent jury of industry professionals. The main awards jury reviewed a total of 26 projects nominated in three categories of main awards – Elemental, Infrastructure and Building. There were seven projects nominated for the 5th Irish Concrete Society International Award, which is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland. The winner of the annual Sean de Courcy Student Prize was also announced. The main awards jury consisted of Frank Lee, Consulting Engineer, Peter Dudley, Scott Tallon Walker Architects and Eden Keane, SIAC Construction.

Jury Quote:

“The internal walls and ceilings in this building are predominantly fair faced exposed concrete. That might conjure up a cold and dark environment in many minds. Yet the head of the establishment is quoted as saying that “……the building is a pleasure to come in to. There is fun in the design. Light fills the corridors. … there are lovely social spaces.” The 18m level difference between the top and the bottom of the site has resulted in a linked series of buildings which the architects liken to a “hill town”.

The architects’ and engineers’ choice for exposed internal structure was in situ concrete made with local limestone and cement chosen to give a light colour, while the other common local rock – red sandstone – was used for external paths and paving. The exposed concrete quality is uniformly smooth and consistent. Formwork joints intersections and shutter tie locations are all planned and executed in exemplary manner. Even a 9m high wall single pour was kept to that standard.”

Other awards include:

Winner – Infrastructure Award: Newlands Cross Flyover, Dublin

Winner – Elemental Category: Feature Stairs and Gallery, Donegal

Winner of the 5th International Award: Techrete for Victoria Gate, Leeds

Sean De Courcy Student Award: John Reddy, Queen’s University Belfast

For more information, see http://www.concrete.ie/awards.asp or contact Executive Officer: Henry Kerr, hkerr@concrete.ie, (086) 0445681