St. Angela’s College Cork wins the Building Category and Overall Award at the Irish Concrete Society’s 35th Annual Awards Evening on the 8th of April in Croke Park.

The Awards recognise excellence in both design and construction in concrete and are adjudicated by an independent jury of industry professionals. The main awards jury reviewed a total of twenty-six projects nominated in three categories of main awards – Elemental, Infrastructure and Building.

The internal walls and ceilings in this building are predominantly fair faced exposed concrete. That might conjure up a cold and dark environment in many minds. Yet the head of the establishment is quoted as saying that “……the building is a pleasure to come in to. There is fun in the design. Light fills the corridors. … there are lovely social spaces.” The 18m level difference between the top and the bottom of the site has resulted in a linked series of buildings which the architects liken to a “hill town”.

The architects’ and engineers’ choice for exposed internal structure was insitu concrete made with local limestone and cement chosen to give a light colour, while the other common local rock – red sandstone – was used for external paths and paving. The exposed concrete quality is uniformly smooth and consistent. Formwork joints intersections and shutter tie locations are all planned and executed in exemplary manner. Even a 9m high wall single pour was kept to that standard.

Irish Concrete Award Jury Citation

Category:
• Awards
• Education
• School