Expansion of historic school offers template for rapid builds across Ireland

Irish Post

15-05-2025

A SIGNIFICANT expansion project at an historic Irish secondary school is set to create a template for rapid builds across the country.
Phase one of the project at St. Flannan's College campus in Ennis, county Clare, will be ready for the next school semester in September.
The 2,500 sqm development at the site, which is the largest school in Munster, includes new special educational needs (SEN) facilities and general educational spaces, including classrooms, science rooms, and a construction studies room.
An artist's impression of the new 2,500 sqm development at St Flannan's College in Ennis, County Clare. (Pic: Healy Partners Architects)
Supported by the Department of Education, the expansion project is regarded as a prototype rapid build project, which could be replicated elsewhere throughout the country.
St Flannan's College principle Father Iggy McCormack said the completion of the new facilities will 'significantly enhance' the school's capacity to support its growing student population, which is currently at 1,280 pupils.
'Our enrolment numbers are expected to grow further in the coming years, which is why investment is needed in our infrastructure to support a modern, proactive, welcoming, and inclusive 21st-century educational environment,' he said.
'Most importantly, the addition of new SEN classrooms comes at a critical time, addressing the severe shortage of such spaces in the greater Ennis area."
In September the school will share their new space with 297 pupils from the nearby Knockanean National School.
The children will be accommodated at the new development until their approved new national school is delivered.
Contractor Lidan Designs and Healy Partners Architects were tasked with delivering the St Flannan's project within a 12-month period.
Construction began in January 2025, with prefabricated elements arriving on site by April.
Fr. Iggy McCormack, Principal of St. Flannan's College, and Aran Healy, Architect and Director of Healy Partners Architects, pictured at the site of a 2,500 sqm development at St. Flannan's College in Ennis, County Clare. (Pic: Paul Corey)
The building will now be delivered in phases from July, with full completion scheduled for December 2025.
Aran Healy, Architect and Director of Healy Partners Architects, explained that from the outset of the project a commitment was made to deliver the building using modern methods of construction (MMC) to 'achieve efficiency, speed, and quality'.
'The new development includes six SEN classroom bases, along with a suite of dedicated support spaces – central activity zones, practical skills areas, indoor and outdoor breakout spaces, and accessible play areas,' he said.
'87 per cent of the building is prefabricated off-site by Lidan Designs in Roscommon, a national leader in sustainable and bespoke timber construction.
'This off-site approach has enabled tighter quality control, reduced environmental impact, and faster on-site assembly.'
He added: 'What sets this project apart is its ability to act as both a contemporary educational facility and a respectful architectural response to a cherished historic setting.
'The design emerges quietly from the landscape - fragmented into four pavilion-like forms that echo the rhythm of the trees and contours of the site.
'Using sustainable timber construction and biophilic principles, we've created a calm, inclusive environment that supports diverse learning needs while nearly disappearing into its natural surroundings.
'It's a building that speaks softly, but with purpose.'