Bon Secours Hospital, Tralee, Kerry

Kerry Hospital project showcases full range of fabrication skills.

Vivalda Ireland has supplied more than 2,000m2 of pre-cut, pre-drilled and installation-ready Equitone cladding to a project that is believed to be the most extensive use of this product in the country.

Completed in late 2024, the surgical day care centre at Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee, Co. Kerry, demonstrates the highly effective use of off-site fabrication techniques to achieve world-class quality for public sector projects. Using both Equitone Linea and Lunara fibre cement façade boards in Pebble Grey, the finished envelope of the building looks modern, clean and robust.

The main entrance of the unit uses Linea panels, precision cut into varying sizes of triangles to create a pleasing decorative flourish. While the base of the hospital uses secret-fixed, 10mm thick Linea to create a high quality, tactile feel, higher levels utilise Lunara, which is rivet fixed using colour matched screws.

Designed by O’Connell Mahon Architects and built by main contractor Eamon Costello, the Bon Secours project provided Vivalda with an ideal opportunity to demonstrate its full range of skills.

High precision fabrication
While all Equitone boards were cut to size at Vivalda’s Naas branch, using the latest CNC cutting technology, all cladding materials were supplied, just-in-time, with pre-fitted brackets, aluminium rails and colour-matched screws. This approach eliminated any wastage and ensured an efficient, timely delivery of cladding on-site. Providing a complete, one stop shop service to the contractor Costello, Vivalda also supplied Wraptite breather membrane to the project, ensuring an efficient cladding installation process.

Darren Bowden, director at Vivalda Ireland, said: “This was a fantastic project for us, as it showcases the full range of services Vivalda can offer to contractors faced with more technically challenging façade designs. Using our on-site facilities to pre-cut Equitone boards to exacting tolerances, we were able to take away the headache of trying to undertake such a demanding process within a relatively small construction site.”

Savvy material choice
Bon Secours Hospital is a prime example of designers thinking more carefully about their choice of façade materials on different parts of the construction project. More architects are exploring new ways of achieving a high-quality look and feel on a building, without going over budget – while adhering to the latest regulations on safety and fire retardation. Often, this sees the adoption of different materials being used higher up a façade to provide visual continuity, while reducing unnecessary expenditure.

In practice, façade advisers at Vivalda are working with designers to use tactile GRC on the lower portions of a building, using coated solid aluminium cladding higher up the structure, to mimic the stone effect of the GRC. The benefits of this approach include easier façade installation (lightweight, hook-on cassettes) and a reduction in cost, without compromising aesthetics, quality or building performance. Similarly, on the Bon Secours project, the use of Equitone Lunara further up the building accommodated the use of more cost effective rivets, colour matched to create a smooth appearance.

Darren Bowden explains: “The clever use of Lunara fibre cement panels for the upper parts of the building – and the ribbed Linea for the lower sections enabled the architects to deliver an aesthetically pleasing façade, while keeping within budget. Using rivet fixed smooth Lunara for the top of the structure and secret-fixed Linea for the bottom generated significant savings, while not compromising either safety or style.”

Bon Secours is a private hospital based in Country Kerry and was originally founded by the Bon Secours Catholic nuns in 1921. With sister hospitals in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick, Bon Secours provides 130 acute care beds, providing general care medicine, radiology, cardiology, intensive care and paediatrics.
Both Equitone Linea and Lunara are supplied in 10mm thickness with a wide range of through colour options. Manufactured in the EU, both products are classed as ‘non-combustible’ with an A2-S1-d0 rating as per EN13501.