Extension to St. Anne’s Community College, Killaloe, Co. Clare

St. Anne’s Community College provides post primary education for a population of over 500 students and remained in full operation during the construction works. This project involved the construction of a single storey extension to the rear of the existing secondary school which encompassed a fitted-out science laboratory, home economics room, dining hall, sports hall, staff room, classrooms, associated ancillary rooms, boiler house and full mechanical and electrical fit out.

The external works included the upgrade of site boundaries, front entrance gates and railings and repairs to existing stone wall boundaries. The construction of permeable paving car parking areas, internal courtyard areas with hard and soft landscaping, seating, public lighting, and all associated site services. In addition, the works also consisted of the upgrade of some of the existing school buildings.

Special Features
The building was architecturally designed to a very high standard with many special features incorporated in the design to name a few, glulam in dining hall, Kingspan Karrier sheeting with cedarwood cladding, double glazed curtain walling, Porplastic indoor elastic gym flooring, rodeca panelling with high level sky light windows. Included in the internal dining hall finishes and fit out was glulam structural columns with a double glazed window façade fitted into same with a “Kingspan Karrier Sheeting” with a cedar wood overlay on 3 sides, with a Kingspan standing seam roof panels with a clipped on Mansafe system fitted to same along with a perforated acoustic metal sheeting to roof with radian panels.

Conservation – Estate Gate lodge and Stone Gate Piers
During the construction of the extension a section of stone gate piers needed to be moved to allow better pedestrian and vehicular access. The Gate Lodge and Stone Gate Piers are part of the original curtilage of Clarisford Palace and as such they were treated as part of the Clarisford Palace Protected Structure of regional significance. The Clarisford Palace is a Detached five-bay three-storey over part-raised basement former Bishop’s Palace, built 1771-1779, with pedimented prostyle diastyle Tuscan portico to centre. During the 20th Century the estate has been subdivided by sale and redevelopment including the development of the current St. Anne’ s Community College. The movement of this coursed cut stone pier and gateway and random rubble walling involved employing a conservation specialist. The conservation work included consideration for how each stone is to be recorded/ marked, how stones are to be cleaned and stored and the specification for materials, mortar mixes, rebuilding and pointing for both the cut stone work and the random rubble wall.

St Anne’s Community College was nominated for the Education/ School Building Project of the Year at the Irish Building & Design Awards 2019.