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Scoil Íosa takes possession of new school extension today

The Hamilton Young Architects designed 910sq. m. extension to Scoil Íosa in Ballyhaunis has just been completed on time and on budget. The new state of the art extension comprises 4 classrooms, 6 special education teacher support rooms, a multi purpose room, a large general purpose hall as well as some other ancillary accommodation. This phase also included the construction of a new 26 space car park and a new traffic lay by at the front of the school. This is the first phase of this major new build / refurbishment development at Scoil Íosa. The school has now moved into the extension and is operating out of there from the beginning of January. The main contractor, Kilcawley Construction from Sligo, will now commence phase 2, which involves the complete refurbishment of the original 1979 built school, including a new pitched roof throughout to replace an existing asbestos cement roof. The Project Architect on the job is Trevor McDaid.

Summerhill College official sod turning ceremony

Extract from the Sligo Weekender:

Work on the new €7.5 million Summerhill College building is set to start at the end of this month with a completion date of July 2012.  It is expected there will be up to 120 jobs on the site at its peak stage. The main contract with John Sisk and Son Ltd. was signed last week.

The job involves the demolition of the newer section of the existing college with the older original stone building remaining in place. The three storey school is designed around a central courtyard and double height general purpose hall. It will have a capacity for 900 students.

Frank Pastor of Hamilton Young Architects said: "The exterior has been designed to harmonise in scale with the old 1890s building while providing a contemporary facade. The new teaching facilities will contribute to the excellent education already provided by the teachers and staff at Summerhill College".

Hamilton Young Architects designed the new 7,463 square metres building in conjunction with Jennings O'Donovan and Partners Engineers, White Young Green Engineers and Mulcahy McDonagh and Partners Quantity Surveyors.

Bishop Christopher Jones performed the official sod turning ceremony at the site on Monday of last week.

 Artistic impression of the new Summerhill College building

Summerhill College old and new 

Summerhill College: the gateway to Sligo  

Project Profile: Castlerock National School

This is Castlerock National School in Co. Sligo which is nearing completion on site. The new school comprises three classrooms, a general purpose hall, library/resource room, a staff room, an office, as well as all the usual ancillary accommodation. The project also includes a new grass playing field, a ball court and play areas, as well as a staff/visitor car park and a lay-by at the front of the school for the safe set-down and picking up of the pupils. The site will be well landscaped in a combination of shrubs and trees providing an attractive overall environment for all the users. It is intended that the new school will be fully ready for occupation by Easter.

 View of the new school from the road with the lay-by in front

Main entrance to the school

The General Purpose room

A typical classroom

Project Profile: 'Teach Jimmy'

Teach Jimmy is traditional farmhouse which was completely renovated and extended recently to take advantage of the magnificent views to the north of the site and the natural light to the south & west. The house retains its vernacular look from the public road while opening the living space to the vista and light without compromising privacy. See more of our residential projects at www.hya.ie

Teach Jimmy before the building work started

Teach Jimmy undergoing some "minor" changes

View of house near completion

Teach Jimmy nearly complete

 Living room, near completion

 Rear view of house, near completion

RTE Radio Morning Ireland

Frank Pastor, a director of Hamilton Young Architects, was invited to take part in a feature on RTE's Morning Ireland radio show to discuss business in Sligo and the North West.  The interview also featured Terri Scott, president of IT Sligo and an IDA board member.

Frank highlighted the fact that many of Hamilton Young Architects current large scale projects, such as Summerhill College and Nazareth Sheltered Housing, started as far back as 2006 and 2003 respectively. The importance of planning for future building projects now was emphasised, particularly in light of the current value in fees and construction costs.

You can listen to the interview below:



Or alternatively listen directly here:
http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2011/pc/pod-v-170211biz5m54smorningireland-pid0-354384.mp3

Signing of Nazareth Housing Contract

Barry Cannon (Hamilton Young), John Hanley (Nazareth Housing Assoc.), Padraig Rhatigan and Patrick Regan (JJ Rhatigans), Pat Gaughan (Nazareth Housing Assoc.), Ronan McNabb.

The contract for a landmark project at the entrance to Sligo was formally signed in Feb 2011 between the Nazareth Housing Association and JJ Rhatigan Construction Ltd.

The project, to be overseen on site by Hamilton Young Architects, will involve the construction of 49 sheltered housing units for older people. These are to be built in the grounds of the Nazareth House building at Church Hill in Sligo. The project represents a revolutionary approach to providing lifetime homes within a campus of facilities dedicated to the care of the elderly.

Work on site is due to begin in March 2011.

Summer Works Scheme 2011

Lyndsay Road School, Glasnevin, Dublin

Following the announcement by the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills of the school's Summer Works Scheme for 2011, Hamilton Young Architects made ten applications on behalf of schools in Sligo, Mayo and Dublin before the deadline in January.

The purpose of the Summer Works Scheme is to provide funding to individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works which, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months to avoid disrupting the operation of the school. Under the terms of the Scheme, school authorities are empowered to manage these works with guidance from, and minimal interaction, with the Department.

Over the past number of years HYA have helped schools successfully obtain funding for a wide variety of projects including the replacement of windows, re-roofing works and upgrading toilet facilities. The publication of the successful list of applicant schools is expected in March 2011.

Sligo Rotary Club

This year's annual Sligo Rotary Club Dinner Dance was presided over by Rotary President Barry Cannon, of Hamilton Young Architects.  Over eighty members, partners and guests attended at the Sligo Park Hotel, raising funds for the Jaipur Limb Project charity.

Joseph Martin, Barry & Grainne Cannon, Andrea Martin, and Trevor McDaid

Trevor & Imelda McDaid with Fiona McCarthy & Andrew Judge

The Rotary club comprises approximately 50 men and women, drawn from the professional, business and service community in Sligo. Membership of Rotary provides an opportunity for friendship, within a club dedicated to the betterment of society through humanitarian, vocational and educational service both locally and internationally. Find out more at http://sligorotary.com/

The Big Draw

The Big Draw event which took place in Sligo on Thursday, 4th November and Saturday, 6th November, attracted over 60 people who took part in a guided tour of the town centre followed by a drawing session. Participants were encouraged to think about, re-create and re-invent Sligo's public spaces the way they'd like to imagine them.

Hamilton Young Architects took part in guiding the participants on a circuit of the town before helping out in the workshops over the course of the two days.  The aim of The Big Draw is to encourage people of all ages to explore ideas and express their creativity, and we were delighted to help artist Lucy Brennan-Shiel in achieving this with the enthusiastic crowds.

The Big Draw took place in conjunction with the Walking Matters conference in the Glass House Hotel in Sligo on 5th November. Hamilton Young director, Andrew Judge, was invited to speak about his experience with The Big Draw alongside other guest speakers including Minister of State Ciarán Cuffe and Senator David Norris.

Find out more about The Big Draw at www.campaignfordrawing.org.

Blue Raincoat Theatre Company

Congratulations to the Blue Raincoat Theatre Company on their 20th anniversary this month.  Based in the heart of Sligo, the Blue Raincoat is one of the few theatres in Ireland with a permanent venue to its name, along with The Abbey, Gate and Druid Theatre Companies.

Hamilton Young Architects involvement with the Blue Raincoats extends back more than a decade.  The development of the Factory Performance Space in Sligo was overseen by former director David Lawlor and was completed in 2000.  The Blue Raincoat Theatre Company were the outright winners of the national AIB Better Ireland Awards for the development project in 1999 and Hamilton Young Architects won the national COTHU Business Sponsorship of the Year award for our contribution to the project.

So, happy birthday Blue Raincoats, from all at Hamilton Young Architects!

Forbo Visit to Amsterdam

As part of their annual visit to the Netherlands, Forbo Ireland Ltd. invited Andrew Judge as part of a 23 strong contingent of building professionals to visit their manufacturing plant in Krommenie. An impressive tour of the plant showed the natural materials used in the manufacture of the Marmoleum flooring material being processed from the raw state to finished product, as well as a visit to the highly automated distribution centre which handles orders worldwide.

An architectural highlights tour of Amsterdam included a number of recent buildings in which Marmoleum was used to great effect, including the OZW university building and the Zuwe Hofpoort Ziekenhuis hospital.

OZW by Jeanne Dekkers Architectuur

ING Bank by Meyer & Van Schooten Architecten

National Third Level Student Wood Awards

A record number of third level colleges entered this years national Student Wood Awards. Sixteen winning college entries from ten universities and institutes of technology throughout Ireland – north and south – made it to the national awards.

Andrew Judge, a director of Hamilton Young Architects, was part of the judging panel, with Duncan Steward and Valez Picardo, who selected the winning entry in the architecture category.

The winner of this year’s architecture award was Brendan Joziasse (Dublin Institute of Technology) for producing a comparative study on the application of engineered wood products (EWPs). The project examined the application of EWPs in a community centre in Clongriffin, North Dublin.

From left, Andrew Judge, judging panel, Duncan Stewart, chair of the judging panel, Brendan Joziasse (DIT) winner of the engineering section at the 3rd Level Student Wood Awards, Sima Rouholamin, lecturer and course co-ordinator, DIT, Christy Conway, Chairman Wood Marketing Federation and Valez Picardo, judging panel.

Launched in 2006 by the Wood Marketing Federation in association with Wood NI, the awards are now much sought after by third level students of architecture, engineering and design in Ireland who incorporate wood as an inherent element in their projects.

The objective of the awards is to encourage students to explore functional, aesthetic and design aspects of wood and wood products. The awards are judged by professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, design, forestry, wood processing, craft and manufacturing.

Official Opening of Special School

The official opening of St. Dympna's & St. Nicholas' Special Schools, designed by Trevor McDaid of Hamilton Young, took place recently in Ballina, Co. Mayo. The investment of €5.7m of taxpayers' money in the development of a state-of-the-art new special education centre in Ballina is “money well spent” according to An Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Minister of State Dara Calleary TD, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD,

Mary Loftus, Enda Kenny TD, Michael Ring TD

The Taoiseach was speaking at the official opening of the special schools, which are "accommodated in spectacular new buildings on a shared campus at Convent Hill", according to the Western People newspaper.

Trevor McDaid, the project architect and director in charge of the design and construction of the schools, was thanked publicly by An Taoiseach, and by principal Maureen Quinn for his "outstanding design" and his "professionalism and tremendous contribution to the project".

An Taoiseach Brian Cowen, with Trevor McDaid

and members of the Design Team

Read the full story in the Western People

See more photos of the project on our Education webpage

The Model

To celebrate the re-opening of The Model gallery in Sligo on 1st May 2010, twenty-two international artist collectives were invited to transform the building into an all-encompassing art project.

As part of the project, WochenKlausur, a collective from Austria proposed extending the project into the city of Sligo. With only a week in which to prepare their proposals, WochenKlausur connected with local academics, students, community activists and professionals, including Hamilton Young Architects, in order to identify small scale but nonetheless very concrete and implementable proposals for the city.

These ideas were presented in a public forum on 5th May in The Model, attended by representatives from local government, coucillors, the mayor, the senior town architects, Sligo Parks, The Sligo Arts Service, and the local press.

Among the presentations were proposals for improved accessibility for cyclists to the city centre by Andrew Judge and a project to highlight the hidden views of Sligo by Seana Clarke, both of Hamilton Young Architects.

Andrew Judge, Hamilton Young Architects,

presenting at the forum

The findings can be viewed at WochenKlausur's booth at the Dorm Exhibition, showing until July 4th.

Contract signed for new Castlerock National School

Vincent Lee & Brendan Henry, Kilcawley Construction; Trevor McDaid; Fr. John Glynn & Patricia Gawley, Castlerock NS.

The Board of Management of Castlerock National School near Aclare has signed a contract with Kilcawley Construction, Sligo, for the construction of a new state of the art primary school facility which will be located on green field site at Drummartin, at the junction of the Tubbercurry/Ballina Road with the Aclare Road.

The official contract signing took place on 18th May at the offices of Hamilton Young Architects in Sligo. Work is expected to start by the end of the month and the school is due to be completed by December this year.

According to the school’s Principal, Patricia Gawley, “the new building will provide much improved facilities for both the pupils and staff for many years to come.” Ms. Gawley also paid tribute to school's Board of Management, the parents and to the school’s hard working fund raising committee.

The Chairperson of the Board, Fr.John Glynn, wished to acknowledge “the efforts and support of our local politicians in getting the project to where it is today”.

Hamilton Young Architects are the architects that designed the building and they will also oversee the construction of the project. Project architect, Trevor McDaid said, “The new school will comprise three classrooms, a general purpose hall, library/resource room, a staff room, an office, as well as all the usual ancillary accommodation. The project also includes a new grass playing field, a ball court and play areas, as well as a staff/visitor car park and a proper lay-by at the front of the school for the safe set-down and picking up of the pupils. The site itself will be well landscaped in a combination of shrubs and trees providing an attractive overall environment for all the users.”

Simon Open Door

We were delighted to take part in this years Simon Open Door fundraising event. This is the fifth year Hamilton Young have taken part. We opened the doors to the public on Saturday 24th April 2010 and spent the morning providing one hour consultations for charity.

It was a great success and the entire event managed to raise more than €50,000 across the country as over 600 architects donated their services.

Progress Report

The new HSE Primary Care Centre in Dromahair, Co. Leitrim is well under way and making rapid progress. The building, on completion, will become a new landmark within the village and provide healthcare and GP services in a bright, custom designed environment.

Main contractor: Sammon Construction

Energy Rating CPD

The latest lunchtime seminar for staff was held in the Sligo office and was presented by Kingspan Insulation Ltd. An excellent presentation was made by Sean McGuigan and Cathal Coen of Kingspan, who outlined the present and future requirements that shall be necessary to meet the Building Energy Rating (BER) standards of construction. The presentation was particularly useful as Kingspan have put together a straightforward Guide to BER, which will be of interest to anyone seeking to reduce the energy requirements of their home.

The guide is available for download on the Kingspan website (click image below)