Firm involved in rejected design for Mater children’s hospital named among designers of St James’s project

One of the architectural firms chosen to design the new national children’s hospital at St James’s was involved in designing an earlier version of the project at the Mater, which was refused planning permission.

O’Connell Mahon Architects, with international partners BDP, has been chosen from a shortlist of six firms to design the €650 million hospital, the biggest building project in the history of the State.

The decision by the project's development board is subject to a two-week "standstill period" before it can be confirmed. At least one of the unsuccessful bidders is considering going to court to contest the decision, The Irish Times understands.

O'Connell Mahon partnered with a different international firm, NBBJ, in the design of the 16-storey building planned for the Mater site. This was rejected by An Bord Pleanála on ground of scale and bulk.

O'Connell Mahon's current partner, BDP, has a strong track record in designing children's hospitals, including Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, which is under construction. In Ireland, it has been active since 1965 and its work includes St Joseph's Hospital in Cork.

O’Connell Mahon is described in documentation as “one of Ireland’s long-established architectural practices, recognised as pre-eminent in specialist healthcare design”.

In recent years, it has won contracts to design the National Rehabilitation Hospital and the new National Maternity Hospital at St Vincent's.

The six shortlisted teams were informed last Thursday of the outcome of the selection process. The project was not awarded to the lowest bidder, according to sources close to the process. Eighty per cent of the marks were allocated on quality criteria and 20 per cent on price.

The brief was to create a "world-standard" children's hospital similar in scale and quality to similar facilities in Australia and New Zealand. The building will provide 469 beds, all in single rooms, 14 theatres, play areas and external gardens, a therapy area, a school, as well as research and education facilities.

It is expected that a planning application will be submitted next February, six months later than envisaged. If An Bord Pleanála gives the go-ahead, construction would begin the following year and it would be ready at the end of 2018.

The Government is funding the project with €450 million from the capital budget and €200 million from the proceeds of the National Lottery sale.