A new acute and intensive care unit at St Patrick's Psychiatric Hospital, Dublin was opened by the President, Mrs McAleese, yesterday.
The Dean Swift Ward is a single-storey building beside the original hospital.
Timber and stone recovered during clearance of the site have been incorporated in the building. It has a modern and contemporary design which nonetheless complements the existing hospital, which is over 250 years old. The building was designed and delivered by a collaboration of three architectural firms: Crang & Boake Inc and Kearns & Mancini, both of Toronto, and CMB Costello Murray Beaumont, Dublin.
CMB Costello Murray Beaumont has been responsible for the design of buildings including the Stillorgan Shopping Centre, the Hibernian Way Development in Dublin's city centre and Portglenone Abbey in Co Antrim. The company was also responsible for the restoration of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, the internal refurbishment of the Irish Life head office and the Four Courts and the refurbishment and extension of the Clarence Hotel, which is owned by U2.
St Patrick's Psychiatric Hospital opened in 1757 after Jonathan Swift bequeathed his estate for the purpose. It is the oldest purpose-built psychiatric hospital still functioning on its original site in Ireland or Britain, and is one of the oldest such institutions in the world.
The first extension to the hospital began 20 years after the building opened to patients. The original building was extensively refurbished in 1995.