An Taoiseach Micheal Martin officially opened the Heather House Community Nursing Unit at St. Mary's Health Campus, Cork, last Thursday, describing it as “an excellent example of essential development’ and "a welcome example of how services can be provided in an attractive and homely manner.”
The 60-bed residential healthcare facility is similar in structure and layout to the HSE’s CNU specimen model: part two-storey and part three-storey rectangular building, with a central courtyard and ‘doubly-loaded’ circulatory corridor servicing rooms either side of the corridor. It will provide both long and short stay residential accommodation for older persons.
The project team was led by MMD Construction Ltd, with ROD acting as both MMD’s structural and civil designer for the design and build contract and as technical advisor to the Health Service Executive on the scheme. Our design partners were MCA Architects, Semple & McKillop Consulting Engineers, FCC Fire Cert Ltd. and RPS.
The building was expedited as part of the HSE’s emergency COVID-19 works and, despite the many challenges associated with the pandemic, reached substantial completion in a little over 18 months from start to finish.
Garbhan O’Brien, Project Manager for HSE South, acknowledged the project team’s efforts to ensure the demanding schedule was met, saying: “It’s not every project where the design team, contractor and client pull together so effectively and to the extent they have on this project. What makes this even more special is that this is a project that will undoubtedly go a long way to improving the health service in the North Cork City area.”
