Project Nore

Project Nore brought together seven schools across six sites and four counties in Ireland under a single €224m design and build contract. The programme included six new schools alongside the extension and refurbishment of a protected structure, with every site progressing through the same delivery stages. Key challenges included working within live school environments, resolving two planning referrals to An Bord Pleanála, managing significant archaeology and road infrastructure at CBS Kilkenny, and coordinating a complex programme covering 43,756m² of new and refurbished education space.

WH Stephens - a Gardiner & Theobald company was appointed as Project Manager and Employer’s Representative, leading the design team through the Capital Works Management Framework and Department of Education procedures. Risk management was embedded from the outset through regular workshops, programme reviews and early surveys, while opening-up works helped de-risk the protected structure before construction. WHS also introduced a document management system to support contractual response times, helped establish the ISO 19650 Building Information Modelling requirements and, during construction, coordinated extensive quality monitoring across all sites.

Project Nore has delivered seven modern, energy-efficient schools, including two special schools and a Gaelscoil, while existing schools remained operational throughout the works. Both planning referrals were successfully resolved and every school achieved a minimum Building Energy Rating of A3. WH Stephens' Project Management and Employer’s Representative role supported coordinated delivery across the programme, with phased handovers enabling pupils and staff to move into their new facilities as each school was completed.