PROJECT DETAILS

The Renewal, Rejuvenation and Modernization of Diamond Park, Gardiner Street, Dublin 1.

The project won the Public Sector / Large Scale / Commercial Category Award in the CBRE & The ULI Excellence in Placemaking awards in 2024.

Overview

The existing park and its facilities had fallen into ruin and disrepair and Dublin City Parks Department decided to renew the park to provide more secure, comfortable, enjoyable, safer and entertaining facilities for the inner city children. Due to the positive impact this new park would bring to the local area, the project received extensive political and social support from numerous public and charitable bodies.

All works were planned and carried out in an extremely busy built up part of the city centre locality. Anti-social behavior and drug use can be high in this area and all these considerations were taken into account and sympathetically managed.

Preparation

Before physical works commenced on site we initially completed all of the following tasks and activities; letter drop to all nearby stakeholders, , dilapidation survey, soil tests and analysis, CCTV survey of existing services and GPR of the existing services. Due to the sensitive and high security risk of the area we erected a secure hoarding and CCTV poles around the works. Once the site was secured we completed a survey of the proposed demolition works to safeguard against asbestos or hazardous or contaminated materials.

Thereafter we cleared the site of all redundant facilities and materials. All metalwork, concrete and hard surfaces were all exported to licensed recycling facilities.

Key site preparation works included; bulk excavations and removal of 1500m3 of soil and imported 1100m3 of granular fill. Thereafter we laid; 250m of new utility ducting incl chambers, 150m of new surface water drains including 8 new manholes and gullies including executing a live connection in Sean McDermott Street. The live connection required extensive traffic and pedestrian management initiatives and liaison with Dublin City Council. Internally we provided 190m of new concrete walkways, 1200m2 of green area, 600 m2 of herbaceous planting, 400m2 of all-weather sports surfacing for basketball/football with cold plastic graphics, adventure playground on raised mound with slides, bridge and wall hola climbing frame with polished concrete and rubber wetpour surfaces.

Streetscape Works

The project entailed the provision of bespoke play facilities including, shoots including secure stairs to the top of the shoots and secure enclosures, basketball facilities, soccer goals and bespoke concrete benches with 1600m of insitu polished concrete kerbs. To provide added security during dark hours we installed new street lights, security fencing and controlled access gates.

Externally, both footways and services in Gardiner Street and Sean McDermott were realigned and new planters provided including the provision of 20 matures trees. Before hand over we erected a bespoke fence and security access gates around the perimeter. Access is therefore controlled and monitored by Dublin City Parks Department.

Challenges

Throughout the project, and as envisaged, we encountered challenges that were all safely and professionally managed.

CHALLENGE	IMPLEMENTED SOLUTION
Effective communications with affected stakeholders.	Appointment of a full time Liaison Officer. Timely letter drop to all stakeholders. Ongoing communications. The initial letter drop contained contact details for our Project Manager, Site Foreman and Liaison Officer.
Nuisance Management - Noise, Dust, Vibrations	Engagement with locals. New and fully serviced mini plant. Wetting down during dry spells and saw cutting, noise barriers. Site and activity inductions. Daily integrated HSEQ audits.
Delivering a high quality project	At Contract Award stage, we designed and implemented a rigorous QA Plan. Throughout the works daily HSEQ audits were undertaken with all non-conformances closed out in a timely manner.
Identifying, protecting and upgrading utility services	We allocated a full time services coordinator to the project. Timely contact with all utility providers. Initial CCTV and GPR surveys. Hand excavation in more sensitive areas. All excavators accompanied by a banksman.
Ensuring site safety	Site inductions, Daily Tool Box Talks, Risk Assessments and Method Statements. Daily HSEQ audits.
Site Security	Before works commenced we built a secure robust site hoarding. CCTV and Time Lapse cameras. Security officer for out of hours.

Recycling

All existing hard surfaces including DBM surfacing and concrete were all carefully excavated and exported to licensed recycling facilities. The project was planned, supported and managed by a; Communications Plan, Works Programme, H&S Plan, QA Plan, Project Management Plan and a Waste & Environmental Management Plan.