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Townmore 2024: A Look at the Construction Year Ahead

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Ireland is set to have the strongest construction growth among 19 European countries

 

2023 was an interesting year for construction delivery in Ireland, and it was not without its challenges. In the last month of the year, two significant reports were published which helps us to understand the year that was, in order to prepare for the year ahead, shaping our strategies and recruitment needs for our ongoing and upcoming projects.

 

Firstly, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) recently released a comprehensive report titled ‘The Real Cost Of New Housing Delivery 2023’. This report highlights a notable increase in the cost of constructing new homes across Ireland, with a stark contrast between regions. 

 

The key takeaways include:

  • The average cost of a new 3-bed semi-detached house ranges from €354,000 in the Northwest to €461,000 in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).
  • A significant increase in costs since 2016, with GDA seeing a 39% rise.
  • The national average cost is €397,000, excluding Dublin, it’s €386,000.
  • Hard costs, like materials and building, account for 53% of the total, while soft costs like land and finance make up 47%.
  • The minimum salary required for purchasing such a house is considerably higher in GDA (€127,000) compared to the Northwest (€85,000).

 

These figures indicate a particularly challenging environment, primarily driven by increases in hard costs due to factors like energy prices and supply chain disruptions from global events like the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine conflict. The report’s viability and affordability analyses suggest a need for innovative solutions to tackle these challenges – which we wholly support – emphasising the importance of modern construction methods and more targeted government support.

 

Ireland’s Construction Growth in European Context

Looking ahead, a report by Euroconstruct and EY forecasts a more optimistic year for Ireland’s construction sector. Despite a general decline in construction output across Europe, Ireland stands as an exception with an expected growth of 3.2% in 2023 and 4.4% in 2024. 

 

Key highlights include:

  • Ireland is set to have the strongest construction growth among 19 European countries.
  • New housing completions in Ireland are projected to rise, reaching 33,450 by 2024.
  • The focus on civil engineering and non-residential sectors contributes to this growth.

 

Similar to the SCSI insights above, the report from Euroconstruct, presented at EY Ireland, stresses the importance of innovation and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to sustain this growth. Embracing MMC and digital technologies is vital for enhancing productivity and addressing issues like skills shortages and cost of capital, which has been the key priority for the Townmore team in recent years.

 

Looking Ahead: Forward-Thinking Strategies

These reports collectively inform our approach for the coming year. While acknowledging the rising costs and the need for higher efficiency in house building, we are poised to leverage Ireland’s growing construction sector. Our focus will be on embracing MMC and digital innovations to improve productivity and manage costs, even more robust project management and cost controls, and, most importantly, strategic recruitment.

 

With a number of large Townmore projects due for handover later this month, we are excited to turn our attention to significant new projects breaking ground in Q1 and Q2, including apartment schemes in Dublin and Louth, another Primary Care centre in the midlands, and a housing development in County Kildare. We also have new hospitality and cleanroom projects due to commence in the first half of the year. 

 

With such a strong pipeline of work ahead for 2024, we are keen to bring additional talent to our teams to fill the following roles:

  • Senior Quantity Surveyors (nationwide)
  • EHS Advisor (Dublin region)
  • Project Managers (nationwide)
  • Intermediate Quantity Surveyors (nationwide)
  • Site Manager (Dublin) 
  • Site Engineer (Dublin)
  • Design Manager (nationwide)

 

If you are interested in working with us, or would like to learn more about our projects, please check out https://townmore.ie/careers/ and reach out in confidence to Mark at [email protected]. 

 

 

www.townmore.ie

 

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Townmore: 5 million steps for Dóchas

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8 teams – 4 weeks – 5 million steps for cancer support 

Townmore team members are stepping it up for cancer support charity Dóchas during the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness month

 

 

Townmore employs close to one hundred people working out of offices and sites across the country and 32 members of the Townmore team are on a mission to walk a combined five million steps to raise awareness and a target of €5,000 for Dóchas.   

 

About Dóchas

Dóchas is a charitable organisation providing the highest quality holistic cancer support services to people throughout the Midlands whose lives have been impacted by cancer. Dóchas offers a wide variety of therapies including reflexology, counselling, mindfulness, massage, reiki, acupuncture and more for those most in need, free of charge. 

This vital organisation is primarily funded through donations, with little to no government support, and it has become a lifeline for families across the Midlands whose lives have been touched by cancer, including the Townmore team.

 

Our Mission

Townmore is on a mission to raise much-needed funds for Dóchas and, following a call out to all employees, 32 members of the company (in teams of four people) have embarked on a five million step journey to raise €2,500, with Townmore matching the collective sum raised – you can show your support through the GoFundMe page: 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/five-million-steps-for-dchas?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

 

How?

All participants have been randomly split into teams of four people and the eight teams of four will capture their combined weekly step count. This weekly tally will be submitted to the marketing team each Monday and the leaderboard will be updated – see which team has taken the lead for week 1 in our leaderboard below!

In addition to raising awareness and much-needed funds for Dóchas (and, of course the bragging rights!), the winning team will be treated to a special prize at the end of the event.

 

Fundraising

A GoFundMe page has been established for people to share and contribute to in order to show their support. The aim is simple, to fundraise as much as possible. Once all monies are received, Townmore will match the amount and make a payment to Dóchas.

Show your support: https://www.gofundme.com/f/five-million-steps-for-dchas?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

 

Week 1 Leaderboard 

 

Well done to everyone for their efforts this week, both walking and providing support  – we are well on our way to exceeding the target! The team of 32 have completed an equivalent of 1,400 km this week.

 

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On Site with the Townmore Team: Carrs Lane, Malahide Road, Dublin 17

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Project overview: http://test.townmore.ie/projects/carrs-lane/ 

Carrs Lane in North Dublin is a private residential development off the Malahide Road, Dublin 17 consisting of 59 apartments together with car and bike parking, a substation and communal green space. Prior to the construction getting underway, preparatory site works included the demolition of two large commercial buildings and a detached residence. Also, mature trees were retained on site and worked into the overall development design to ensure environmental benefits for future occupiers.

The apartments will be a mix of one-bed, two-bed and three-bed homes across two blocks, each four-storeys.

This €16.0 million project is on track for completion within 12 months. 

Site Update

Work on site is progressing well, under Townmore Site Manager Adam Collins. His team has just completed the pour for the main slab of the third floor in Block A, with the third floor pour in Block B to follow shortly. 

After these floors, it will be only the roof slabs and bridging of the walkways that remain for the concrete frame. The blocklayers have the internal walls in Block A nearing completion on the ground floor and the brickwork is now complete on Block A up to first floor level. 

12 bathroom pods have been delivered to the site todate and, significantly, the M&E installs have now commenced on site. 

Project Delivery Partners

~ Main contractors: Townmore Construction 

~ Architects Opperman and Associates

~Structural Engineer: PHM Consulting 

~ Planning Consultant: Tom Phillips and Associates 

~ CGI consultants: 3D Design Bureau 

~ Landscape Consultant: CMK Horticulture Arboriculture

You can follow regular site updates from the Townmore team at: http://test.townmore.ie/news/  

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How the COVID-19 Pandemic Will Change the Built Environment

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Earlier this week ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST published a thought-provoking article by Alyssa Giacobbe entitled ‘How the COVID-19 Pandemic Will Change the Built Environment’ – you can read the full article here: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/covid-19-design


The piece starts by quoting Boston-based architect and adjunct professor at MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning Rami el Samahy: 

“This won’t be the first time in history that cities and buildings will be reimagined in response to an increased understanding of disease” ~ Rami el Samahy

This is a particularly good time to reflect on what kind of buildings we are designing and delivering, but also to reflect on how we are designing these spaces. Not only do we have a little more time on our hands to step back from the everyday design and build work, most of us are somewhat contained to our home offices (or any quiet space) and frustrated at the design inadequacies. These inadequacies are not simply around use of space but rather its flexibility, or soundproofing, or potential to be cut off and isolated, when needed. Apparently there is a collective urge to change this.

Many people living in Ireland might have seen footage of a political exchange in the Dail yesterday whereby Green Party leader Eamon Ryan urged hardware stores to remain open for as long as possible so that people confined to their homes can engage in some homes and garden DIY. We are finding out that our homes are not designed for peace and quiet to work when all family members are home. And we are finding out that our office buildings and retail units are not designed for social distancing with ease.

There has been much rhetoric this week about the world changing. While this might sound dramatic, it is true, particularly from a design perspective. In the same way that weather events prompted us to alter designs and innovate better materials and methods of building, the unfolding Covid-19 situation and examining the documented spread of the virus will almost certainly prompt the industry to design future solutions. One likely example of this is the trend of open offices; practically, uniform open workplaces will almost certainly need to be re-imagined. 

“For many in the design community, however, the rapid spread of COVID-19 has caused them to reevaluate their life’s work, and what it might mean to design for a world that will never be quite the same, especially when it comes to how we gather in and use large public spaces, like airports, hotels, hospitals, gyms, and offices.” ~ Alyssa Giacobb           

These design measures will range from the seemingly small or insignificant, to the audacious; from simply incorporating more hand-washing and sanitizing stations, to moving from open place workplaces towards so-called “deep-work chambers”, as championed by David Dewane of Chicago-based practice Barker/Nestor, who hopes businesses will take the learnings of team members working remotely this month and use these to create more balanced work spaces that facilitate both individual concentration task space and areas for productive collaboration.

“If virtual working is successful, if we are in fact more productive, it’s going to fundamentally change the value proposition of shared workspace. Not everyone wants to be in a big social playground.” ~ David Dewane of Barker/Nestor


The article discusses the likelihood of public spaces moving towards more automation to mitigate the risk of contagion. This will likely incorporate more touch-less technology, for example, automatic doors, voice-activated elevators and light switches, keyless entry through doors. Other possible solutions include self-cleaning bathrooms,enhanced use of pods and modular units that can be sealed off, disinfected or quickly torn down, if necessary.


According to Craig Scully, chief engineer at Indiana-based firm Design Collaborative, designers will incorporate more antibacterial fabrics and materials, for example copper. He goes on to say: “If five years ago I had a conversation with a convention center about implementing those materials, they might not want to spend the money, but today that’s likely to be a totally different story”. 


Plenty of food for thought here.

www.Townmore.ie 

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2020: A New Decade of Construction

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Townmore’s Top 5 Construction Tech Picks for a New Decade

1.  Construction software and project management tools 

After decades of very little process innovation and growing criticism, there has been a whole raft of so-called efficiency tools in recent years, dedicated to the construction industry.  A satisfying number of these new tools have been developed by Irish-based startups. Real-time collaboration software is fast becoming a best practice for modern building companies, however, the use of this is not as widespread across Irish contractors as it needs to be in 2020. While this might not seem like a worthy tech pick for a new generation of Irish construction teams, reliable, real-time, collaboration software is the most important first step for many firms as it facilitates the digital record-keeping for construction projects from start to finish.


2.  BIM

Technology is transforming modern construction and the team at Townmore is leading the charge. BIM, or building information modelling, is an intelligent 3D model-based process. It allows project stakeholders to efficiently plan, design, construct and sustainably manage buildings over the entire lifecycle of the building.  It has already reached tipping point (15%+) across Irish design and build teams. In the UK, BIM became mandatory on all PPP projects by 2017 (no timeline for this on Irish PPP projects). The use of BIM became mandatory on all Townmore projects from Q3 2019; this required heavy investment in hardware, software and training for all staff and subcontractors on site, so we are well prepared for 2020 upskilling.

3.  MMC (in particular, Modular and Offsite Construction)

Like every forward-thinking construction contractor, Townmore has included MMC options in all design and build proposals in recent years. Given the persistent housing crisis here in Ireland, chronic undersupply of rental property and strong demand for office space within the capital, rapid build and more certain programme delivery options are appealing for construction project clients. Irish offsite construction manufacturers are now offering certified building systems to deliver buildings up to 10 storeys – this is opening up a whole new era of taller buildings in Ireland, using MMC techniques.

4.  Data (given the AI treatment)

In reality, the construction industry has always generated more data than it knows what to do with. As we kickstart a new decade of construction, poor planning, project management, miscalculations/cost overruns etc are fast becoming unacceptable. For the first time, predictive analytics are currently being applied en masse to construction data in Ireland  (Construction Data 2020 pilot project). Predictive analytics provides forecasting abilities that have the potential to transform construction by facilitating more accurate costings, avoiding failure triggers and helping to eliminate waste. Specific outcomes of AI, or artificial intelligence, to the data include: more accurate simulation prior to construction, design issue prediction, identification and analysis of specific construction project risks, irrespective of the level of complexity involved.

5.   Sustainability

Whereas so-called ‘green technologies’ are products/services that facilitate a carbon-neutral building footprint, sustainability goes to the core of the design and build strategies of the project, with due consideration for the lifecycle of end building. This encompasses the most efficient use of resources, including natural light, in order to reduce ongoing running costs and waste. Compliance with increasingly onerous legislation and reducing overall environmental impact are the primary considerations of sustainability design teams and we know that this legislation is likely to become more burdensome over the next decade.

The above doesn’t touch on 3D printing, robotics, emerging construction safety technologies and a whole host of immersive technologies (including virtual and augmented reality). As a growing (and margin-conscious) construction contractor we need to strike a balance between useful innovation and novelty – what industry innovations would make your top 5?

www.Townmore.ie

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