St. Fintan’s Hospital, Portlaoise

This extensive refurbishment and extension project aimed to equip St. Fintan’s Hospital in Portlaoise to deliver 21st century healthcare and to modernise the office and clinical accommodation of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Tusla, the State child and family agency.

The design team was led by RKD Architects and included ROD (civil and structural), RPS (M&E), ORS (PSDP and fire), McGahon Surveyors (QS) and Carrig Conservation.

The construction phase of the project began in September 2019, with Kelbuild as the main contractor,  and reached substantial completion in January 2022.

The project involved the refurbishment of an existing two-storey over basement hospital building, which first opened as a psychiatric hospital in 1832, and the construction of a two-storey reinforced concrete extension within the existing courtyard.

Works included the provision of:

• a new steel frame feature entrance to the hospital, which involved the reconfiguration of supports for masonry vaulted ceilings
• a raised pedestrian boulevard which, together with the entrance, significantly improves the accessibility of the building
• a 52-space car park to relieve parking pressures on the campus
• permeable paving to help discharge storm water in a sustainable manner

One of the key challenges during the construction phase lay in minimising disruption to adjacent hospital activities. This was overcome through close collaboration between the contractor and the design team.

• Civil engineering design
• Structural engineering design