High rise development in Ballymun in the 1960s, to provide much needed accommodation, involved the use of building systems and techniques which were in their infancy and contributed to problems that would only come to light after many years in service. Larsen Contracts tendered and were awarded the remedial facade repair works contract by Dublin City Council for:

• concrete repair;
• replacement of the external jointing system with the Sika PUR over banding system; and
• cleaning and application of a protective anti-carbonation coating system to all 15, eight & four storey blocks throughout the Ballymun Complex.

Challenges facing the operations team on this project included:

• Health & Safety;
• Tenant Liaison; and
• The sheer size of an inhabited (approx 22,000 people) construction site that extended over many acres.

Having been awarded the contract, Larsen Contracts leased the office next door to the local DCC housing office. This gave Larsen a very visible presence in the area and offered easy access to all tenants enabling us to immediately foster strong relationships with the various residents associations. The access method to the facades was always going to have to be temporary so fixed scaffold was ruled out a tender stage. Hanging cradles were deployed on the 15 storey tower blocks and MEWPS used to access the smaller 8 & 4 storey blocks. This allowed the access to be removed back to the site compound each night ensuring best practice in Health & Safety. A phased programme with rolling teams commenced with high pressure washing of all external surfaces amounting to an area of 200,000m². A survey team located all concrete defects and repairs were carried out under the direction of the structural engineer. The existing gun applied jointing was overbanded with the Sika Pur band system totalling 50 km. The external exposed aggregate panels were treated with a clear protective coating and the smooth concrete received a coloured anti- carbonation coating. The 52 week programme required detailed planning and fortnightly site meetings with tenant liaison were a key factor in the success of this project.