Primary and secondary schools, Sandymount, Dublin

The challenge: delivering sustainable, fit-for-purpose schools

Once it’s complete, the new Sandymount Park secondary school will be one of the biggest in Dublin, with space for almost 1,000 students and 140 staff .

The live construction site is right next to the newly delivered primary school, as well as the existing secondary school. It’s also bisected by a live road in a busy, affluent Dublin suburb. And at the heart of the campus is the beautiful Sandymount Park House – also known as Gandon Villa – a historic, listed building designed around 1790 by renowned architect James Gandon. The villa is being refurbished and needs to be carefully integrated into the new design as part of the programme.

Working around these constraints makes this an especially challenging site for BAM. It’s all about keeping day-to-day disruption to a minimum, ensuring students and staff are safe, protecting the historic aspects of the landscape and ensuring a sustainable approach for the long term.

The BAM solution: an education focus developed over the long term

In May 2026, BAM handed over the first major deliverable on the campus: a two-storey primary school for Shellybanks ETNS, featuring 16 classrooms, a library space and a hall.

Delivering schools as part of a bundle means that BAM can make sure that every project benefits from its track record in the education sector, extensive expertise in lean building techniques and its long-standing innovative partnerships with expert suppliers.

For example, the main structure of the secondary school building is formed using a full precast frame solution. This is a tried-and-tested approach which BAM has used on several other school programmes – including Greystones Community College in County Wicklow – working in partnership with specialist supply chain partner Concast.

As part of our strategy to de-risk the construction programme, BAM created an innovative temporary modular campus for the school, accommodating up to 500 secondary school students to ensure a smooth, phased transition as the new buildings come on stream.

With sustainability a key consideration, BAM also used this site to pioneer the use of Ireland’s first 24-tonne LiuGong battery electric excavator. A perfect fit for urban projects, the innovative machinery operates silently and produces no carbon emissions. This overcomes two critical challenges in urban construction: environmental impact and disruption to the surrounding community.

The results: learning environments that work for students, staff and the community

The purpose-designed new schools will deliver a substantial increase in space, including ample room for both mainstream and special education classrooms.

Moving the students into temporary learning spaces, as well as using a precast frame for the buildings not only reduces risk but also speeds up construction.

The new buildings feature renewable systems including heat pump technologies for heating, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems, and solar panels.

Together, the two schools are more than a build. They’re a blueprint for sustainable, community-driven development: delivering spaces where learning and creativity can thrive.