Department of Construction Technology and Mangament will be at Open Day

CIOB Student Bursary 18 Nov 2010

This year’s CIOB Student Bursary will take place on Thursday the 18th of November 2010 at 6.30 pm in room 281.A presentation will take place on the building of the national conference centre by John Sisk and sons in a similar format to last year.

CIOB Eastern centre representatives will also meet there to present the Bursary to the winning student.

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Architectural and Construction awards

writes EMMA CULLINAN

THREE of the past year’s major Dublin commercial and civic projects have picked up Opus awards in the over €20 million category: the Aviva stadium at Lansdowne Road, the Criminal Courts of Justice and the Grand Canal Theatre.

There were four winners in this category and the other building is a spa and leisure building, added to the Europe Hotel in Killarney, Co Kerry. It was designed by Gottstein Architects (which was established by Achim Gottstein, whose father worked on the original hotel in the 1960s).

The Opus Architectural and Construction awards are assessed by a panel who shortlist the submitted buildings and then spend four days visiting them. The core panel has been judging the award for many years and, says chairman Ciaran O’Connor, they are “from different backgrounds and don’t always agree”. This leads to lively discussion over some projects.

O’Connor is an excellent critic of buildings and has a keen eye for good design, planning issues and build-quality. The judges’ citations are balanced and well observed and show that the judges were looking not only for aesthetic qualities but fitness for purpose, ease of use and context.

The citations are not afraid to allude to a building’s shortcomings, even in winning projects. For instance, the Grand Canal Theatre gets an award but with the note that “there was much discussion about the applique of stylistic motifs or ‘branding’ to this building and its relation to the Grand Canal Basin”, hinting that architect Daniel Libeskind’s work has been a bit repetitive and stylistic of late. Yet they acknowledge that the structure, built by John Sisk and Sons, “is an achievement” and that the “design supports and enhances the overall theatrical experience”.

The courts, by architects Henry J Lyons and contractor PJ Hegarty and Sons, are praised for their immaculate detailing and quality of build: “There may be quibbles regarding some elements of urban design but it does most things very well”.

Issues in building procurement are addressed in the statement, “There is a design and build quality rarely seen in other public private partnership projects”.

The Aviva stadium, by Scott Tallon Walker and Populous architects and contractor John Sisk and Son, is praised for being “contextually skillful” in the way its roof rises and falls to fit into its neighbourhood.

“This stadium is an example of how good design can transform an ordinary brief on a difficult site through a few well-chosen and strategic moves.”

Other non-housing winners of the Opus Awards include Skibbereen Credit Union, in the Heritage category, by Mike Shanahan and Associates and contractor Murnane and O’Shea, which follows good conservation practice in distinguishing between the existing structure and the addition: “The new and old elements are clearly and separately handled with care and precision”.

A Pastoral Centre in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, by McGarry Ní Éanigh architects and contractor Aidan Elliot Construction was Highly Commended in the Under €2 million category for transcending “its mundane site and impoverished context”.

The Milk Market redevelopment in Limerick, by Healy and Partners Architects and contractor LM Keating, got an Award in this category being praised for being “modern yet modest”.

In the €2 million to €20 million category, GKMP Architects and SIAC Construction got an Award for Urban Landscaping of the Parade and Canal Walk in Kilkenny which is “modest in execution but does the obvious and everyday things very well”.

Source: The Irish Times

Mater Hospital Redevelopment Dublin Site Visit

The DT117/4 and the DT117/2 groups have completed site visits to the Mater Hospital were the new adult hospital is being built.

The redevelopment of the Mater Hospital site incorporates new Adult Hospital facilities which adjoin the existing Hospital structures and a double level basement car park provided beneath the expansion.

A particular challenge is the incorporation of the new development with the Metro North Mater station, which is partly located underneath the new buildings.

The new hospital facilities comprise approximately 68,000m² of new accommodation at a value of approx €140m.

DT117/2 Students attend National Skills Competition

The DT117/2 class visited the National Skills and it was a very productive and informative visit. All the supervisory staff at each competion gave the students a talk on the piece of work being completed by the competing students.

The 53rd annual National Skills Competition has apprentices from all over Ireland to compete to be the national champion in their chosen trade. The competition aims to test every aspect of the skill and workmanship of the apprentices over an intense period of two and a half days.

Every two years the best Irish apprentices compete in World Skills, which has been dubbed the Olympics for tradespeople. World Skills 2011 will take place in London and it is hoped that Ireland will be well represented. “Irish apprentices have proven that they have some of the highest levels of workmanship in world” said Donal Keys. “We have an enviable record at World Skills where we’ve won the gold medal in 3 out of the last 4 years for car mechanics and also won gold last year for aircraft mechanics. That’s an incredible achievement for such a small country as Ireland.”

First Year Site Visit

The blogs from the first year induction site visit have all been submitted and the selection of the winning blog and the second placed blog has been finalised. We examined the blogs and marked them on the content, grammar, photos and links created to other websites. On these criteria we are putting the following blogs forward.

Winner http://cbm2-tallaght.blogspot.com/

Matthew O'Grady
Craig Grattan
Michael Phelan
Brian Creighton

2nd Place http://dt117.blogspot.com/2010/09/site-visit-101-hi-there-are-first-year.html

Matthew Dunne,
Adam Kavanagh,
Billy O'Mara,
Neil O'Brian

Congradulations to all who took part in this competition and thank to all for your co-operation on the day of the site visit.

ASC Design Build 2010 - Down to Dallas

After the panic of photocopying and binding the submission the team head to Dallas, a three hour drive on I35 some 250 miles across state lines.

The team arrive at TEXO headquarters just before the deadline submission time and with little time to spare. A reception for all participating teams at the venue followed, which included a draw for the running order for the presentationthe following day.

It was then off to the hotel to check in and put the finishing touches to the presentation with the necessary rehersals. And of course is was time to put the wise and constructive comments from Profesor Williams from the Communications Center in the College of Business at OU into action. The team had a special tutorial around communication with him on Friday which proved to be a really helpful and a truly educational experience.

'Ordered in Pizzas' was the fashion of the evening as the team made good their presentation.

Monday 15th and presentation day

Team presentations were scheduled between 8 am and noon with the DIT team optioning to go for the 10 30 slot.

After a little delay the students got their opportunity to make their pitch. Video footage will be uploaded at a later time.

Waiting for the opportunity to make that pitch for the job!!!! All members relax and have no worries!!!! John and David have time for a laugh and joke (left). Matt is very relaxed while Eric shares that 'seal joke'; Edward shares in the joke with Dan.

Were off and setting up in the five minutes allocated....

The presentation goes well with reference to grandma's visit to the Westworth County Hall used to share the design concepts.

Presentation over and lunch beckons. Lunch is followed by a visit to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium for the lads..... photos should appear later.

The whole team together in our team shirts just before the awards banquet.

Little did we know at that stage what was about to unfold.

L-R Matt, Edward, Eric, John, Sean, David, John and Lloyd

Post banquet and time for official photos ... a well deserved 3rd place is a very just reward for the pioneering efforts of the international team. The team are pictured here with Ken Robson, Head of Construction Science Division OU, who has been instrumental in making this hugely successful initiative happen. We have accomplished and been part of something very special here.

Not only did we excel in getting third place but ERIC SCHMID won the "Best Presenter" award for the Design Build section. Grandma's visit to the county hall pitch sure made an impression, Eric..

Well done Eric and here's to the whole team effort.

The team pose for a photo with the winning team.. the University of Oklahoma team of Josh, Chase,Greg, Brandon, Patrick and Grant ... pictured with the DIT team. The OU team finished second 2009 competition, so it was a great achievement to come in a close third.

ASC Design Build competition 2010

Wednesday 10th Feb 2010

We fly to Oklahoma today with a stop over in Chicago. Should arrive in Norman, Oklahoma at midnight (6am Thursday GM)
Will keep you posted on progress.

Construction Management student Sinead Reynolds gets best paper award at AISBEE

The University of Ulster in conjunction with Dublin Institute of Technology and the Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) under the direction of the Built Environment Educational Research Group organised the All Ireland Symposium on Built Environment Education (AISBEE) which took place on Friday 22nd January 2010 at the Belfast Campus of the University of Ulster.

The central theme of the conference was ‘learning through linkages’ and the underlying purpose of the symposium was to provide an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and dialogue through participation.

Sinead Reynolds, in 4th year on the Construction Management Degree presented a paper entitled ‘ A Student’s Reflections on Participation in the 2009 Twenty Four Hour Universal Design Challenge’ for which she received the ‘CEBE Best Paper’ award in the student strand. Congratulations and well done to Sinead.

The conference format included a number of key note addresses, with Professor Norton addressing the Challenges, Polices and Practices in Higher Education in Ireland. Professor David Boud of the University of Sydney presented a key note on the linkages in Assessment across courses and beyond where he challenged academics to look differently at Assessment and to make it more sustainable. There were a number of ‘formal’ peer reviewed papers presented along with a number of informal themes discussed. Further information on conference papers from both informal and formal are available at the conference website or by contacting Lloyd Scott, Department of Construction Management and Technology.