O’Brien Landscaping

Project Fitzwilliam is one of the most ambitious and complex developments of recent times. Spanning and entire city clock and occupying 45,000 sqm it also represented a new level of landscape construction challenging us at every point. The building itself was designed by Grafton Architects with the landscape being design by Bernard Seymor Landscape Architects. The construction was managed by P.J. Hegarty and Sons. Such is the scale of the project, you may wish to view the project on Google Earth.

The scope of O’Brien Landscaping was the procurement, supply and installation of all hard and soft landscape elements. This included both Leinster granite and Portuguese granite paving in the public realm as well as the supply and installation of a range of bespoke furniture elements such as tree grilles and granite seating.

The 45,000 sqm building footprint included planted and hard landscaped basement courtyards, roof terrace, balconies, and extensive and intensive green roofs spread over seven floors. Our scope also included paving build ups in courtyards and roof terraces and both of these particular locations included an ambitious plan to use granite cladding that had been reclaimed from the building that previously stood on the site which was cut into linear planks for re-use as paving. Site wide surface drainage by way of stainless-steel slot and channel drains were also undertaken as part of the hard landscaping installation.

Soft landscaping elements included the installation of a number of cellular tree pits in the public realm on James Street East to accommodate large specimen Quercus palustris street trees. We installed both lightweight and ericaceous soils, compost, 298 trees, multistems and specimen shrubs, 27,600 herbaceous perennials, ferns and groundcover plants and a large selection of spring and summer flowering bulbs. Upon completion of planting, a fully automated irrigation system was installed to all locations.

Judges’ Comments: 

“Their structured recruitment, onboarding, and training programs, combined with clear career pathways, set a benchmark for excellence in the sector. The dedication to social responsibility shown in their submission, from charitable projects to engagement with employment schemes, highlights the company’s role as an employer which values both its workforce and strives to make a meaningful impact beyond the business, they are a worthy recipient of this endorsement from ALCI.”

“A complicated project with so many areas to deliver on within the one site. A logistical challenge for O’Brien Landscapes to deliver and install the large volume of material to so many areas while working to a main contractor’s programme, which would rarely afford sufficient or appropriate time for works to be carried out. The delivery of the hard and soft elements on this exciting design has been carried out to an extremely high standard.”