PROJECT
Dark Sky Park andObservatory DAVAGHFOREST, COOKSTOWN
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE – THE HALLMARKS OF LOWRY BUILDING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING LTD... AIMING FOR THE STARS
T he brief was to build NI’s first- of-its-kind dark sky observatory and visitor centre on a protected blanket bog in a remote forested area of designated outstanding natural beauty and environmental sensitivity. What could possibly go wrong? Not a lot, as it happens.
“There were challenges of course,” says Chris McIvor, Project Manager at Lowry Building and Civil Engineering Ltd, “but we were always confident in our ability to deliver the building to the client, Mid Ulster Council.” The Dark Sky Park and Observatory in Davagh Forest has just been accredited as an ‘International Dark Sky Park’, only the second place on the island of Ireland – and the first in the north - to achieve that. The forest, which is in the foothill of the Sperrin Mountains outside Cookstown, is renowned for a lack of light pollution, which means the night sky is at its darkest and at its best to observe the stars. It’s also an unspoilt landscape and all
stakeholders on the project wanted to keep it that way, as much as possible. “The site is next to a river in a very environmentally sensitive area and on top of a protected bog,” explains Chris. “We had to ensure that construction didn’t impact on the wildlife and native plant species that were growing there. “We had to go through a three-month consultation period with NIEA before we could even get on to site. We detailed the control measures we would put in place to protect the river, wildlife and plant life and the protected blanket bog. “For example, when we were excavating the ground works and pilings we had to have a catchment area for any washout
“We’ve hadgreat comments fromboth the design team and the client about the finish and the delivery.”
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