CIF Featured Project – Grow it yourself by Tom O’Brien Construction Ltd.
Tom O’Brien Construction Ltd, members of the South East Branch of the Construction Industry Federation, are currently involved in an interesting project in Waterford. Located directly opposite University Hospital Waterford on a high profile site in the heart of Waterford City, will be the new GIY “Grow it yourself” HQ. GIY is an emerging global movement which started in Ireland, of up to 50,000 people who grow their own food.
The project kicked off in December 2015 by then Tánaiste Joan Burton. Due to open later in 2016, Grow HQ will be a National Food Education Centre and the home of the GIY Ireland movement! It will be an internationally significant model for food education. GROW HQ will be a home-grown food training centre, cookery school, café, shop and training gardens.
The building is a two storey structure and will be approximately 4,000 sq feet. It will incorporate a reception area, training classrooms, a café and shop, kitchen, office space, changing facilities, storage, roof garden, circulation and plant space. The external works include provision of working gardens, landscaping, car parking, paved areas, entrance gates, planting, site structures and site fencing.
The GROW HQ building is being designed by Solearth Ecological Architecture. The building will be constructed on ecological principles and serve as a practical example of environmentally sound building design and sustainable development. We will be aiming to incorporate as many sustainable features as possible to minimise the carbon footprint of HQ and reduce ongoing energy requirements. The design of the building will be sympathetic with the surrounding landscape.
GIY selected the design and construction team following a 3 month evaluation and selection process. The winning team is made up of some of Ireland’s leading architectural, design, landscape, construction and engineering firms, with many of the team members coming from Waterford.
Established in 1972, Tom O’Brien Construction has evolved from its early concentration on the housing/residential sector to become one of the South East’s most respected contractors in the Education, Healthcare and Commercial sectors. Its area of operation has expanded beyond Waterford, to encompass Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford and Wicklow.
