A complete 1,000 m² modular school, manufactured in Roscommon and opened to pupils in February 2024 — with some of the best verified performance figures of any school in Ireland.
Gaelscoil na Laochra had spent years in temporary accommodation before this building. What replaced it was manufactured as finished volumetric units in our Roscommon factory — heavier, more substantial modules than conventional prefabrication, engineered with structural beams to allow wide, open-plan teaching spaces — then transported to Birr and craned into place, reaching roof level in days.
The building is clad in black-stained vertical timber with generous glazing to every classroom, and finished inside to the standard our joinery workshop demands: a school that feels built, not assembled. Some 80% of construction — 92% of project value — happened offsite, which is why the site programme was measured in weeks rather than school terms.
The performance numbers were independently verified and published: embodied carbon of 488 kg CO₂e/m² against the RIAI's 2030 Climate Challenge target of 540, airtightness of 0.64 air changes per hour, and estimated heating costs of about €91 a month for the whole school.
Featured in Passive House Plus — "Pump up the volume", April 2025.
