Engineering consultancy EDC had a recent win at the 2023 Irish Construction Excellence (ICE) Awards in the 'Engineering Design Innovation – Element Up To €10m Category', for its work on Dublin City Council’s North City Operations Depot (NCOD).

The ICE Awards are the original and premier recognition of performance excellence for the contracting sector in Ireland, providing an opportunity for the industry to showcase and reward best practice across the full range of construction disciplines and project categories. 'Engineering Design Innovation' was a new category in the competition this year, celebrating engineering design innovation for projects completed in the last year.

Richard O’Farrell, managing director at EDC, said: “Decisions that our team made throughout the design process focused on the key principles of ensuring whatever we designed improved the performance of the project as a whole and contributed to positive outcomes not only for our client and the surrounding community; but also ensuring, in the long-term, a positive impact on the health of our cities and the environment.”

By creating this centralised depot, Dublin City Council released 16 existing depot land sites for more appropriate functions, such as the provision of about 750 social housing units, while transforming a dumping ground into an energy-efficient public facility, to ensure future climate and people needs are at the forefront of the design. This project has also contributed to the development of the infrastructure of Ballymun and the surrounding communities.

“We would like to thank our team and each individual that has participated and shown their commitment to this award-winning project," said O'Farrell. "This achievement would not have been possible without the teamwork, and collaboration with the wider design project team including JNP Architects, Purcell Construction and Tobin Consulting Engineers, which has been key to Dublin City Council’s North City Operations Depot’s successful completion and delivery.”