Construction has started on the new €160 million National Forensic Mental Health Hospital in Portrane, County Dublin, designed by Scott Tallon Walker Architects in collaboration with Medical Architecture, and scheduled to open in early 2020.
The 130-bed adult forensic hospital, at St. Ita’s Campus in Portrane, will replace the 94-bed Central Mental Hospital complex at Dundrum, and will also include a new 30-bed Intensive Care Rehabilitation Unit (ICRU), and a 10-bed Forensic CAMHS unit. Ireland’s Department of Health said the development fulfilled recommendations made in the national mental health policy, A Vision for Change. The project will also involve a second subsequent phase, involving construction of new regional Intensive Care Rehabilitation Units (ICRUs) in the HSE West and HSE South areas.
Announcing the construction contract’s signing, Ireland’s Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, said: “This new state-of-the-art hospital, and its associated facilities, will be one of Europe’s most modern of its type. A very welcome and long overdue replacement for the Central Mental Hospital at Dundrum, the new complex will position Ireland’s forensic mental health services as world leaders in best clinical practice.”
The project is a joint venture between Spanish contractor, OHL, and Irish contractor, JJ Rhatigan, with the hospital being built by Rhatigan OHL.