The Square Town Centre, Tallaght
Located on an 11.3 hectare (28 acres) site, T. J. O’Connor and Associates acted as structural and civil engineering designers for this retail and leisure complex. Opened in October 1990, this complex was the first of the major suburban shopping centres in Dublin and provided over 65,000m2 of food and fashion retailing, in addition to a multi-screen cinema. A 10m drop in level between the western and eastern boundary was utilised by designing the centre in three tiers. A central atrium provides a full-size stage for public concerts. This atrium is topped by a stepped pyramid, 40m x 40m in plan, with a glazed area of 1,400m2, standing 35m over level 1 and 18m above adjacent car park roof level. 3 levels of external car parking and a multi-storey car park provide car parking for over 2,000 cars. T. J. O’Connor & Associates received the 1992 Presidents Award of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland for Excellence in Design for this project.
Start/End Date:
1987 – 1990
Contract Value:
IR£85m (c. €108m)
Role:
Structural & Civil Engineers
Key Structural Features:
- Stepped pyramid steel roof structure consisting mainly of rectangular hollow sections
- RC frame redesigned to structural steelwork due to time constraints and to provide flexibility
- Structure designed as rigid steel frames providing full stability against lateral loads, leaving locations of lift and staircores to be finalised independently
- 3,600 tonnes of structural steelwork
- 40,000m2of composite metal decking
- 28,000m3 of reinforced concrete
- In excess of 1km of RC retaining walls
- Combination of driven precast concrete piles and pad footing foundations
- J. O’Connor & Associates received the 1992 Presidents Award of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland for Excellence in Design
- External 130m long structural steel 5-span bridge
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