Ardee Ambulance Base, Co. Louth

Set in a parkland and positioned to maximise views to existing mature trees, the Ardee Ambulance Base is designed to promote the well-being of staff who, in the fulfilment of their duties, often witness scenes of a harrowing nature. 

The building comprises offices and rest areas for staff, a garage for vehicles, a wash area and external covered parking for ambulances.

Approached by a curved access roadway and elevated by two meters, the building is clad in Iroko Teak and offers pleasant views through a recessed window plane to the historic landscape.

Operating on a 24/7 basis, the facility provides  pre-hospital emergency services to Counties Louth and Meath while also supporting the National Ambulance Service (NAS) response to any major emergency. The base also provides a support location for Community First Responder schemes.

The design team comprised ROD (civil and structural engineering design services), Moloney O'Beirne Architects (architects), IN2 (M&E) and McGahon Surveyors (QS). 

The project won the 'Wellbeing' category award at the RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) Awards 2023. 

The RIAI said "the building reveals itself around a curved access road which circles the first of these impressive trees. Clad in Iroko Teak, and sitting on a raised platform, this simple rectangular pavilion with its efficient layout, generous floor-to-ceiling heights and large windows provides a sense of calm which is much needed by the users who often witness traumatic scenes. Vehicular and service access is limited to one side of the building, allowing the surrounding natural wild grass creep up to the remaining three edges."

ROD worked closely with our design team partners to ensure the ambulance base complied with all NAS requirements.

The ambulance base is accommodated in a single-storey 500m2 building, with covered parking for emergency vehicles. The development includes a new entrance off Golf Links Road at the north end of Ardee Town. The existing access road has been upgraded to a two-way road with shared pedestrian/cycleway path and associated site development works.

The steel framed structure of the main facility building has been designed to provide the maximum internal flexibility for future use. To integrate the building with the protected parkland landscape and minimise its impact, treated larch cladding has been used in all elevations while gabion retaining structures have been used selectively. 

• Civil engineering design
• Structural engineering design