Blackrock Clinic in Blackrock, Dublin was co-founded in 1984 as a private, high-tech hospital offering healthcare to private patients. A teaching hospital, it is associated with both the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and University College Dublin. The Blackrock Hospital and Clinic has been undergoing a managed programme of extension, refurbishment and upgrading in every department, all carried out in the live hospital environment under an STW masterplan.
Architecture
The existing walls of the College could not be undermined by column foundations, the car park sides needed to be fully open to avoid the need for sprinklers, the adjoining school required that overlooking of their hockey pitch be minimised and the Hospital wanted full height protection against the risk of flying hockey balls.
The unusual Scott Tallon Walker solution with greenwall growing through a stainless mesh façade, using a cantilever steel frame turned a basic functional structure into an elegant contributor to the local environment.