Our project on site at Monaghan Model School is coming together well and our final visit of the year provided plenty to look forward to in 2015. The aluminium standing seam roof finish is in place to 2 of the new classrooms with the third just underway. Installation of windows and doors is due to commence in January.

Within the existing building the mechanical and electrical installations are progressing well and some painting works have commenced in the 2 large classrooms and general purpose room.

The blockwork is complete at the new entrance area and the connections through the new circulation/ spine corridors to the rear of the existing building can now be fully appreciated.

The Contractor at Monaghan Model School is making the most of the ongoing spell of good weather. The floor slab is in place for one of the new classroom extensions and blockwork is progressing well in this area. The steelwork is also in place for the new circulation spine to the rear of the existing building and the ability to look down the length of the corridor provides the first glimpse of the view from the new school entrance.

Elsewhere the civil engineering groundworks are progressing and the existing building is beginning to take shape as the extensive internal/ external refurbishment works continue. We will feature some photographs of the reconfigured internal spaces in our next blog.

After several months of work on the existing building and siteworks it was great to see the steel frame for the link corridors in place last week. The foundations for one of the new classrooms are also in place and blockwork is continuing this week.

 

Work is progressing well at Monaghan Model School and since our last post good progress has been made on both the existing and new build aspects. The rebuilding of the large stone chimneys is complete and repointing of the stonework continues. The roof repairs are ongoing, with tiles and valleys replaced from above while timber sections are replaced from below. The skill of the carpenters is evident in some of the intricate repairs to the existing windows.

The majority of the new concrete retaining walls to the rear are complete and foundations for the new spine corridors are in place. Steelwork for the new structural frames is due to arrive at the beginning of August and will no doubt feature heavily in our next blog post!

Mid-March saw the much anticipated start of the works at Monaghan Model School on site. Demolition and internal stripping out works have almost been completed and construction of the new retaining walls has commenced.

During previous renovation works suspended ceilings and partitions were installed that resulted in significant compromises to the original volumes and proportions of the rooms. For the first time in 30 years it is once again possible to appreciate the spaces as they were originally designed, and in particular the original timber roof trusses.

The stone masons are currently working on some interesting structural repairs to the existing chimneys, while roof stripping and repair works are also ongoing. 

In the past few weeks we had an opportunity to visit the Monaghan Model School building again. This ongoing project is currently at Department of Education Stage 2B (detailed design) and our visit formed part of the current investigation work to the existing building.

The main focus of the day was to assess the condition of the existing external joinery to the building. Remarkably the original windows and doors remain in 95% of the building and are in reasonably good condition throughout. As we continue to find ourselves thinking more and more about airtightness, thermal breaks, U-values, G-values in our new build projects it was refreshing to see such an old technology still proving its worth in a working building. The teachers may not agree – particularly given the inability to open many of the windows due to broken mechanisms.

We were joined for a few hours on our visit by a Master Carpenter and had an interesting discussion on techniques to restore, repair and improve the performance of the windows to ensure they can continue to serve the building.

The building has continued to be used as a school since its construction some 150 years ago. The current project seeks to return the classrooms in the existing building to their original configuration, and construct new classrooms and ancillary spaces to the rear. A clearly defined new entrance will be provided and a well-defined circulation spine will link all elements of the new and existing part of the school.

For further information see http://www.sha.ie/index.php/projects/education-detail/monaghan_model_school