It was once the site of the much-missed Sextant Pub and Carey’s Tool Hire – now the tallest building in Ireland is taking shape at an astounding pace as the 25-storey, 200-apartment Railyard grows by the day on Cork city’s docks.
The project is operating on a 24/7 basis using the very latest in ‘Vertical Slipform Construction’, where platforms are used by construction workers to build floor-on-floor upwards, placing steel reinforcing rods ahead of concrete and moving up quickly, floor-by-floor, constructing a central spine of the building for lifts, stairs and utilities. At the moment, it’s rising by about a storey every 72 hours.
The central spine of the Railyard is already 15 storeys high and has another 10 to go – it is dwarfing every other building on the south docks.
The Railyard is already at 15 storeys with 10 to go(Image: CorkBeo)
With the slipform method, the concrete form and working platform are raised by means of hydraulic jacks as the workers always stay one floor ahead of the poured concrete – it can go almost as fast as concrete can fully harden. When topped out, the 24-storey building will tower over the nearby Elysium, almost a quarter as tall again as Cork’s current tallest tower. It will be the tallest building in Ireland, just beating the Obel Tower in Belfast at slightly over 85m.
The 200 housing apartments will be a mix of studios, one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, with a total of 217 units planned. The majority (118) will be cost-rental apartments with a further 77 earmarked for social housing, and the remaining 22 designated as age-friendly homes for individuals and families on Cork City Council’s housing list. The project is a collaboration between Cork City Council, the social housing body Clúid and the JCD Group.
The cost-rental homes in particular will be an attractive prospect for renters, with Clúid confirming that monthly rates will be set at around 25% below market price – a steal for a new build unit in an area of the city undergoing rapid growth.
Averil Power, CEO of Clúid, added, “Clúid is delighted to be partnering with Cork City Council and JCD to deliver these fabulous new homes in our largest scheme in the city. Clúid has a long history of working closely with Cork City Council to deliver homes for those in housing need, and we already have 860 social and cost-rental homes across the city.
“The Railyard development will allow over 200 individuals and families, who would likely otherwise be priced out of the area, to create a home in this new community in the heart of the city. They will be able to put down roots and take advantage of all the economic, educational, cultural and community opportunities Cork City has to offer.”