Mount Street, Dublin
The Merrion Fertility Clinic project is located immediately adjacent to the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. The development of the Clinic utilsed 4 vacant and near derelict Georgian Properties on Mount Street Lower to provide Clinical, Reception and Consultant accommodation over 4 Levels.
As the properties were protected structures their upgrade and remodeling to provide the specialist areas for Fertility assessment, procedures and scanning required significant consideration and adoption of Conservation best practice to gain planning approval from the Planning Authority. The requirement to meet with Building Regulations and Fire Certification requirements were also key considerations in the design most notably in the provision of a new externally fixed glass lift and shaft to be incorporated within the scheme to meet accessibility requirements.
The Procedural and Treatment Room accommodation required clear heights and open plan areas that could not be accommodated within the period buildings. A modular clean room facility was therefore provided at Basement / Garden Level which included 2 x Operating Theatres and adjacent IVF Rooms, a Recovery Room and Sample and Cyrogenic Rooms. This structure was clad in cedar and used zinc parapet and flashings etc. to provide a contemporary contrast to the brick and rendered rear facades of the original buildings.
Entry to the Clinic was via the original ‘Goffs Yard’ Coach Archway which was internalized and incorporated into the floorplate to provide the Foyer and Reception Area. The off centre positioning of the Archway within the 4 bay elevation allowed a separation at Level G of the Reception and Waiting Areas from the specialist Consultation Rooms and Meeting Room areas.
The upper floors were replanned to maintain the architectural features and proportions of the original rooms wherever possible. It was a requirement, for example, that all 4 original accommodation staircases which served each of the original ‘Houses’ were to be retained as part of the scheme. This allowed some innovation in terms of conservation and reuse, as seen in the pod-like rooms incorporating secretarial support accommodation which were inserted within the larger First Floor Consultants’ Rooms which overlook Merrion Square. The smaller rooms to the rear were allocated to admin support and private Offices.
Level 2 was similarly planned and provided Counseling Rooms, a scanning suite, further Patient Waiting Areas and ancillary admin support rooms. The Third Floor was to be occupied by the National Maternity Hospital providing a centralised Financial Suite for the Campus.
Although the project was a challenge in terms of its design and compliance with current standards the completed scheme has allowed 4 period buildings fronting onto a historic Dublin Square to be sympathetically refurbished and respectfully rejuvenated to provide highly specialised healthcare facilities.
Michael Regan of EPCA was Director in Charge / Design and Project Architect for this project whilst Managing Director of Reddy O’Riordan Staehli Architects
