COMPANY PROFILE
must go to all our subcontractors and operatives who worked on the Nightingale project.” During the pandemic, Dowds Construction was also involved in a healthcare project for the Ulster Hospital to strip out and remodel an existing first-floor to provide a new Theatre and procedure areas along with prep and wash areas, recovery rooms, a reception and doctors’ offices. “We needed to be creative to ensure complete separation of the workforce from the live hospital environment. For example, we created a scaffold walkway up over another building to get operatives access through a first-floor curtain walling panel as opposed to going through the main hospital entrance. This was another very challenging project at the height of Covid, but with the right procedures and checks in place we managed to keep the workforce in good health, maintained the safety of patients, and completed another very complex Construction and M&E project to the satisfaction of the Health Trust”. Dowds Facilities Management division also carries out all the Facilities Maintenance and preventative maintenance at Victoria Square Belfast for Lambert Smith and Hampton (LSH). When the landlord needed a major strip out and refit of the former three-storey Top Shop unit, they turned to Dowds Construction to take on the role as the Main Contractor. Nicholas explained, “LSH have a very tight deadline to complete the three-phase project by the end of October this year, so we had to mobilise very quickly to ensure we can meet LSH handover dates. It just goes to show again, the level of trust that clients such as LSH have with Dowds Group, to not only contract us to provide the FM for Victoria Square but to also carry out large scale construction projects for them.” Dowds Construction has big plans to progress over the next few years, “In five years, our ambition is to contribute in or around £30m turnover per year into Dowds Group, with a resilient pipeline in the healthcare and industrial sectors,” confirmed Uan. To find out more about Dowds Construction, visit www.dowdsgroup.com/ construction
Keeping a close eye on the programme for the strip out and refit at Victoria Square.
Whiteabbey Nightingale Step Down Facility.
Dowds Construction is delivering a three phase strip out and refit project for Lambert Smith Hampton at Victoria Square.
Victoria Square.
food entrepreneur Denis Lynn, who sadly passed away recently. Head of Construction, Nicholas McKee takes up the story, “We were carrying out the M+E design and installation for the project when Denis Lynn asked us to also take on the Main Contractor role and responsibility. This seemed like a very natural addition to our service, therefore we embraced the opportunity and delivered the first phase of the Finnebrogue Down Business Park (DBP) in 2014”. “We were then asked to go straight into the second phase of the Finnebrogue DBP Project as the Principal Contractor, and our division started to grow from there.” This strong relationship with their client, Finnebrogue Artisan, continues today as Dowds Construction recently handed over the latest £25million expansion for them in 2021, marking the fourth factory extension completed for the company in five years. Using their experience, Dowds Construction registered and qualified on CPD Construction Contractors list which opened doors to works such as the Ulster Hospital Maternity, Whiteabbey Endoscopy, Ulster Hospital Theatre 8 and other healthcare works. A particular highlight for the team was
Whiteabbey Nightingale Step Down Facility. After successfully completing the new Endoscopy Facility project at Whiteabbey Hospital, the Health Trust was so pleased with the installation they commissioned Dowds to move straight into the Nightingale project with them. “Due to the urgent nature of the Covid facility, the Trust didn’t have time to go out to the market and needed to mobilise at speed. So, in September 2020, they asked us if we would be up for the challenge to work with their design team and get the project from conception to completion by December of that year.” “We worked very closely with the client and their design team on a daily basis. We designed and built as we went to meet the deadlines and it was very intense. It involved long hours for the guys working nights and weekends, all carried out in a live environment, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. There were many, many challenges, but we completed the project on time and achieved the completion date the minister announced of December 4, 2020. We are hugely proud as not only did we bring in a revenue of £3m in just three months, but we also knew we were doing something for the people of Northern Ireland. Praise also
Uan Campbell - Pre-Construction Manager T: +44 (0)28 2766 2789 - E: Uan.Campbell@dowdsgroup.com www.dowdsgroup.com/construction
www.northernbuilder.co.uk
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