Award Concrete Society for Cliffs of Moher

In the category “Building” the Cliffs of Moher Park reception building has won an award of the Irish Concrete Society. Bakkala Consulting Engineers is the proud engineer of this project, which is designed by Denis Byrne architects en build by Keating.

About the project:

In the sensitive landscape along the coast of Clare to which visitors flock to view the Cliffs of Moher, this project seeks to minimise its visual impact on the setting, creating a sunken enclosure of concrete, incorporating reception facilities for the various coach companies serving the site. Concrete is cleverly used to hold back the earth enabling the necessary accommodation to be concealed in a mounded form. Benefiting from the inherent strength, robustness and resilience of concrete, its comprehensive use seems particularly appropriate here. Carefully detailed fair-faced concrete is used extensively in the floors, walls and ceilings both internally and externally, treated with various finishes from exposed aggregate to highly polished, according to its location. Artificial lighting is hidden in niches carved out of the concrete, whilst canted sky windows are crafted to allow daylight into the concealed interior.