The award of the construction contact to Bowen Construction Ltd for Irish Lights's corporate development at Dun Laoghaire was reported in Beam Vol. 34. This article describes the progress to date on the project.

On 4 January 2006, the contractor, Bowen Construction Ltd, moved into the site to commence construction of Phase 1 of the development. Phase 1 works, in the western half of the site, included building the new Engineering Operations Building comprising the buoy production workshop, painting facility, mechanical workshop, electrical-electronic workshop, stores, and washing and changing rooms. This phase also included the construction of a new buoy pit, a new buoy wash area, and dedicated waste storage area.

To carry out this building work, Bowen Construction erected a solid hoarding separating their construction site from Irish Lights' operational zone. During this period Irish Lights' operations contracted to the eastern part of the site while the old stores building and training room were temporarily converted to offices and the electronic workshop respectively.

The contractor began to clear the Phase 1 site by demolishing the existing buildings that previously housed the administration offices, electronics workshop, projects offices, shipwright's workshop, and part of the existing buoy shed and old workshops. Once the site was cleared, the contractor constructed the foundations using a combination of concrete piles, concrete pad foundations, and ground beams. Higher than anticipated rock levels caused some delays in completing the foundation works.

The new Engineering Operations Building comprises a steel framed structure tied to a central reinforced concrete core where the stairwell and lift are located. The north and south facades are predominately glazed modular units manufactured and installed by a specialist sub-contractor Metallbau Hirsch of Switzerland. The east and west gable walls are constructed using precast concrete twin wall units to the inner leaf and granite stone cladding to the external facades.
The design provides large areas of natural daylight into the main work zones. North facing rooflights allow natural light to permeate deep into the centre of the building.

The buoy production workshop is a double height zone incorporating an overhead 12 tonne gantry crane with a double hook to enable buoys to be turned. Located off the buoy production workshop is a specialised paint booth for spray painting operations, which will be carried out under controlled environmental conditions. The booth contains a pneumatic driven turntable for rotating buoy bodies and other equipment during painting.

The mechanical and joinery workshops are on the ground floor and are serviced by specialised air extraction systems. The integrated electrical and electronic workshop is located on the first floor and incorporates a raised access floor for flexible servicing.

The new store is in a double height zone with a specialised automated shuttle storage system and a modern pallet racking system. The shuttle storage system is a computer driven unit, approximately 6.5m high, in which a significant volume of small items are contained within a small space. The items are stored on trays which are automatically brought to the delivery point when requested via its computer. Dedicated hazardous storage is included within the stores area.

Other facilities accommodated within the Engineering Operations Building include a training room, meeting room, secure records room, offices, plant rooms, and washrooms with locker rooms and drying facilities.

20 October 2006 was signalled as moving-in day. During the preceding few weeks preparations were made to facilitate this move in an efficient manner and to enable Phase 2 to commence. This involved the relocation of the temporary stores containers, buoy bodies, and buoy superstructures and tail-tubes on the quayside areas. Existing buildings were cleared and all plant and equipment decommissioned for transfer to the new building. Following the handover of the Engineering Operations Building on 20 October, the Dun Laoghaire team moved the plant and machinery into the new workshops.

The contractor commenced work on Phase 2 at end of October 2006. Bowen Construction Ltd has taken possession of the eastern part of the site and has erected a demarcation hoarding between sites. At the time of writing the contractor has completed demolition of the remaining part of the old buoy shed and workshops, the forge, and the paint workshop at the eastern end of the site. A piling rig has arrived in preparation for piling the foundations for the new circular Office Building and the link corridor to the Engineering Operations Building.
The new Engineering Operations Building is a spacious and bright workplace providing a pleasant working environment with modern facilities for Irish Lights' future operations.

The re-development of the Dun Laoghaire site is now well advanced. Further changes to the landscape will be evident during 2007 as the circular office building takes shape on the site.