New Landmark for Cork City Centre's Skyline as Ireland's Tallest Residential Building Takes Shape

Cork is on track to reclaim the title of having Ireland's tallest residential building as a major construction milestone was reached at the weekend at the Railyard development in the city's Docklands.

Specialist contractor Slipform UK completed the main core of the 25-storey tower on Saturday, 28th March, with the lift and stair core now standing at over 85.5 metres. The pour began on Wednesday, 18th March, with a crew of 30 specialist workers operating on 12-hour shifts around the clock for 10 days. Over 1,700 cubic metres of concrete was poured continuously, with more than 225 tonnes of reinforcing steel tied throughout, averaging two and a half floors per day.

Dan Sheehan, Contracts Manager with main contractor PJ Hegarty, said:

"We are very pleased to have completed this important phase of the project safely and on schedule, which was the result of months of planning and collaboration across the project team. Cores 2 and 3 shall now commence, which are a more traditional precast concrete design which we expect to have completed by the end of April."

The Railyard sits at the transition point between Cork's historical city core and the new dockland development, and its growing presence on the skyline is already giving the public a sense of the project's scale and ambition. The scheme also involves the renovation of the two listed buildings onsite, Carey House and the former railway terminus building.

Designed by award-winning architects Henry J Lyons, with input from specialist tall building architect Richard Coleman of London-based City Designer, the tower steps down from 25 storeys to 13 and then 9 storeys. When complete, the Railyard will deliver 217 affordable new homes in Cork's Docklands, with completion expected by the end of 2027. The project is a collaborative partnership between Cork City Council, Clúid, and JCD Group.