City Architects has recently completed the procurement of a Design-Build Contractor Framework for delivery of apartment and housing developments using ‘Modern Methods of Construction’, i.e. 2D Panelised or 3D Modular or Volumetric Construction. The Framework consists of six Contractors who will tender for projects with an estimated construction value in excess of €15 million (excl. VAT).

Bonham Park – Image courtesy of Levitt Bernstein and ABK Architects

The procurement process includes the first design-build contracts to be awarded off the Framework, located on four sites – Bonham Street and Cork Street (Liberties), Bunratty Road (Coolock), and Springvale (Chapelizod). These sites will deliver 261 new homes, with a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments and houses. Detailed reference designs for each of the developments have been developed by a consultant design team led by Levitt Bernstein Architects and ABK Architects and includes Curtins Consulting as Civil-Structural Engineers. The full design team and other project consultants are listed below. This means that critical overarching design requirements such as scale, form, materials and spatial layout are well defined at an early stage. City Architects will continue to work with our consultant design team and the contractor’s design team throughout the design development and construction phases.

Springvale – Image courtesy of Levitt Bernstein and ABK Architects

The lifetime of the Framework Agreement is up to four years and it is hoped that during this period, Dublin City Council alone will be in a position to deliver almost one thousand homes using modern methods of construction. In addition, the Framework is being made available to all Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies throughout the Republic of Ireland who also wish to develop apartment projects using this approach. This should significantly improve the timelines for procurement of design-build contractors for the delivery of housing in Dublin City and throughout the country where modern methods of construction are to be employed.

Bunratty Road – Image courtesy of Levitt Bernstein and ABK Architects

Cork Street – Image courtesy of Levitt Bernstein and ABK Architects

Springvale – Image courtesy of Levitt Bernstein and ABK Architects

Client: DCC Housing and Community Services

Project Management: DCC City Architects

Architects: Levitt Bernstein Architects & ABK Architects

Structural Engineers: Curtins Consulting

Quantity Surveyors: Cogent Associates

M+E Service Engineers: Ethos Engineering

Fire Safety Consultant: Jeremy Gardner Associates

PSDP: Linesight Safety Management