Galway City Council is delighted to congratulate OCC Construction on winning best project in the ‘Residential up to €5M’ category, at the Irish Construction Excellence Awards 2024 for the Galway City Council project, An Cliathán.
An Cliathán is a 15-unit social housing scheme for Galway City Council, located on the High Road (Old Monivea Road) in Galway City. Galway City Council procured an Architect-led Design Team, led by O’Briain Beary Architects, to provide full design services for the project and OCC Construction were awarded the contract for the works. Construction commenced in 2022 and was completed in early December 2023.
The development consists of two residential buildings in a linear, terraced arrangement on a narrow suburban site, comprising 12 apartments, primarily intended for older people, and 3 bungalows intended for families with special needs. The front portion of the site was acquired by Galway City Council through two separate Compulsory Purchase Orders under the Derelict Sites Act. This was then augmented through the strategic acquisition of another residence to the rear. It is hoped that this approach and the subsequent development will set a benchmark and can become a precedent for similar interventions at appropriate locations. It provides an excellent opportunity to deal with urban decay and associated negative consequences, at the same time delivering housing units in an efficient manner within existing communities.
OCC Construction worked collaboratively and cooperatively with Galway City Council and the Design Team to construct and deliver a high-quality development that provides much needed housing units, designed to satisfy the requirements of elderly persons and persons with disabilities in a small-scale, carefully designed and well-integrated community setting.
Residents began moving into the award-winning development earlier this year, with most units now occupied. This project is part of the Galway City Council Housing Delivery Action Plan 2022-2026, under the national Housing for All policy.
