Concrete Today May 2010 - the Irish Concrete Federation

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Greece According to Ireland’s first history book, ‘Foras Feasa ar Éirinn’. (Seachrún Céitinn 1643), ‘the Irish originate from the Island of Crete’. Whether factual or just folklore, it is certainly true that both countries have made a significant contribution to Western civilisation. This edition of Concrete Today has a distinct ‘Greek’ flavour with three articles connected to Greece in different ways. Firstly, we are indebted to our Greek colleague Georgia Kremmyda, who has kindly penned a technical article based on The Conceptual Design of Precast Concrete Structures in Seismic Areas, in accordance to the provisions of European Code EC8 and to the damages observed at the most severe earthquakes. The article will be of particular interest in the aftermath of the recent devastating earthquakes which caused severe damage and loss of life in the L’Aquila region of Central Italy, Haiti where up to 230,000 people are thought to have lost their lives and most recently Chile, where one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded recently occurred. Secondly, we are featuring an article on the opening of the new Acropolis Museum in Athens. This beautiful building, built predominantly in concrete and glass, is featured on the cover of our magazine. The building houses many of the ancient treasures of the nearby Parthenon, views of which are afforded to visitors from the museum building. Unfortunately, and much to the dissatisfaction of the Greek authorities, the building houses only a few of the Parthenon Marbles, most of which are housed in the London Museum. Our third article with a Greek flavour concerns the manufacture of special Precast concrete cladding panels for the 2012 London Olympics. Ireland’s leading Precast cladding manufacturer, Techrete Ltd., recently won a contract to supply reconstructed stone cladding panels, to be erected on 26 blocks of apartments within the Olympic village. The apartments will house the Olympic athletes and a number of the Precast panels will feature friezes, depicting ancient Greek battles, centaurs etc. These frieze depictions were scanned by Techrete from the original Parthenon friezes and reproduced at three times the original scale. Brian Ó’Murchú John Murphy - Obituary The staff and members of the Irish Concrete F e d e r a t i o n were greatly saddened to learn that our dear friend and colleague John A. Murphy, passed away on November 21st 2009, following a short illness. Born and reared in Kildare town, John attended the De la Salle Primary and St. Josephs Academy Seondary School. Having qualified as an engineer in UCD he went on to work in many different areas, Roadstone, Kildare Co. Council, Q.K. Cold storage and finally setting up his own business Bracla in Newbridge Industrial Estate. In latter years John was appointed CEO of the Irish Asphalt Pavement Producers Association (IAPA), whose office is located within the Irish Concrete Federation office suite. John was a friend to all his colleagues, someone who listened attentively and offered advice if it was sought. He was a dedicated family man, who used his knowledge and drive to give his sons Brian and Alan and his daughter Caroline the From the Editor best possible start in life. He was ever positive and cheerful and loved nothing better than to engage in banter with his friends and colleagues. He was always the soul of the party. John had many passions in life, not least his undying support for the Kildare GAA team, whom he followed to every venue the length and breadth of the country. John also loved to play golf , though the banter and laughter that went with it was more important to him than the golf itself. A gregarious character and man of action, John joined the Newbridge Credit Union in 1995 and later served as a Director and member of the Credit Committee. He was noted by his fellow committee members as a person who paid great attention to detail in making decisions and who always strived to be fair and compassionate in his dealings with others. John was great company, a marvellous storyteller and brilliant raconteur. His wife Ann, his children and grandchildren were the mainstay of his life. The staff and members of the Irish Concrete Federation offer our sincere condolences to his wife and family at this challenging time. ICF Staff ics awards Irish Concrete Society Awards 2009 The winning entries at the Irish Concrete Society’s Awards Evening, which took place recently, came from all over Ireland and ranged from private houses to community buildings to cable stayed bridges. This was the 28th Awards Evening and the event is always one of the highlights of the construction industry’s calendar. The Awards recognise excellence in both design and construction in concrete. The jury reviewed a total of twenty projects entered in three categories– Elemental, Infrastructure and Building, where they were impressed by the quality and high standard of detail exhibited by all entries. They also considered suitable examples of the use of concrete in a sustainable context. The biennial Sculpture Award received 13 high quality entries from all parts of the country, each demonstrating the creative potential of concrete as a material. The annual Sean de Courcy Student Prize was also awarded on the night. Winner – Sustainability Award Father Collins Park, Donaghmede The large park of 52 acres serves the established area of Donaghmede and new housing developments stretching out to Belcamp, Belmayne and beyond. Father Collins Park, Donaghmede concrete today 2
concrete today - ics awards The park consists of shot-blast concrete paths and walkways, and a concrete skateboard park which is well-planned and detailed, and obviously well used. The jury noted that the ‘quality of the curved and angular shapes within the skate-park, and the innovation in their construction, are a credit to the Team and a challenge to the skateboarders’. The concrete bridges which traverse the various watercourses are simple, well planned and well executed. These concrete elements which contain GGBS are combined with 5 eye-catching wind turbines that provide for the park’s lighting, water-pumps and aeration systems. There are a series of extensive watercourses including a surprising waterfeature. These clean hard materials are complimented by the use of some well planned soft landscaping. The free form wetland reed beds which purify the water mesh well with the park’s linear features, and also create a sustainable solution to the lake and water features. Winner – Elemental Category Jigsaw, Dublin was winner in this category where 6 entries were considered. This project consists of a garden level single storey extension to the rear of a 2 storey over garden level Victorian house in the inner Dublin suburbs. The extension is overlooked from the upper floors of the existing house. The use of concrete allowed the architect create a floating tubular space with the same material used in walls, floor and roof creating an interesting tension when viewed from the garden where this heavy element floats effortlessly over the garden terrace. The real success of the project was achieved by the excellent quality of the insitu board marked concrete where concrete is exposed internally and externally. The execution was of such a high quality that the finished concrete was very even in colour and texture with little evidence of construction joints. Jigsaw, Dublin Winner – Infrastructural Category River Suir Bridge was the selected winner in a category of 7 entries. The bridge is a cable stayed bridge of total length 465 metres crossing the River Suir upstream of Waterford City. The imposing visual aspect is driven by the 112 metre high concrete pylon in the shape of an inverted Y out of which 19 sets of four cables hang, giving an almost symmetrical form extending out from the concrete pylon. The pylon was constructed using an automatic climbing formwork system while the bridge deck is a horizontal steel frame supporting precast concrete panels. The jury noted that ‘the design of the bridge has produced concrete and steel elements at a scale suitable to the overall structure and its setting. The relationship River Suir Bridge, Waterford of the concrete and steel is very well handled and the use of each recognises the inherent character of each’. Overall Winner (Building Category) Visual Centre for Contemporary Art and George Bernard Shaw Theatre, Carlow. The Overall winner was in the Building Category where 7 entries were considered. This building is sited in the heart of Carlow town adjacent to Carlow Cathedral and other historic buildings where the jury felt that ‘the concept of a glass box or jewel in a garden was most appropriate’. The success of the building is the apparently effortless use of large elements, mainly concrete, in sympathetic scale with the gallery spaces. The concrete elements have a textural scale of their own, such as the heavily ribbed slab soffits, the OSB board texture to the walls, which reads like wallpaper, smooth bands within the walls and the polished floors. The concrete walls are well co-ordinated and detailed especially at their base where no kickers were used and also at horizontal construction joints. The use of concrete in many forms and finish demonstrates the flexibility of the material and the appropriateness of its use in such a civic building. This building has met and overcome many challenges, particularly in the use of concrete and is a worthy Winner of both the Building Category and the Overall Irish Concrete Society Award for 2010. concrete today 3
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Concrete Today May 2010 - the Irish Concrete Federation

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