Social housing regeneration in Dublin

Dublin City Council (DCC) is rebuilding and renovating three of its oldest social housing complexes in the inner city, namely, Dolphin House, O’Devaney Gardens and St. Teresa’s Gardens. 

As employer’s representative on the three schemes, Roughan & O’Donovan (ROD) is leading the administration of these public works contracts on the council’s behalf and acting as the main point of contact with the individual scheme contractors.

Our responsibility is to ensure that the projects are fully compliant with the requirements of the public works contracts and to deliver clear cost control and high quality solutions for our client. 

Constructed in the 1950’s, Dolphin House is a 7.5ha housing complex bounded by Dolphin’s Barn, the South Circular Road and the Grand Canal.  

The complex consists of 392 social housing units and 44 senior citizen units.  

Phase one of the scheme involved:

• Refurbishment of three existing apartment blocks to provide 63 upgraded dwelling units
• Construction of four new blocks containing a total of 37 social housing units
• Significant landscaping works 
• Provision of new accesses onto the Grand Canal towpath

Purcell Construction Ltd was the main contractor for phase one, which was completed in November 2018.

The Dolphin House Regeneration project was the overall winner of the 2019 KPMG Irish Independent Property Industry Excellence Awards.

Constructed in the early 1950s, St. Teresa’s Gardens is a 346-unit complex located in Dublin’s southwest inner city.

The scheme consists of 56 housing units, comprised mostly of houses, with two blocks of apartments. 

Contaminated material on-site provided a significant test for the project team.  The team designers, however, developed a solution to allow the majority of this material to be dealt with in-situ, thus avoiding the additional challenges and costs associated with removal off-site.  

Construction commenced in December 2018, with Purcell Construction Ltd. as the main contractor.

The project was completed in early 2021.

Constructed in 1954, O’Devaney Gardens is a 278-unit social housing complex located approximately 1km west of the city centre, off the North Circular Road.

With a construction value of approximately €20m, phase one of the scheme consists of 56 social housing units in a mix of energy-efficient terraced housing and apartments above basements. Ancillary works include a new road layout and ESB sub-station.  

Designed by Dublin City Council’s City Architect's Division, the buildings are punctuated externally by a mix of brick and brick expression facades which, together with the detailing of the private balconies, enhances the overall attractiveness of the development.

The main contractor is Careys Building and Civil Engineering.

Construction commenced in July 2018, and the project was completed in December 2022.

Contract administration