Woodward Estate at Glencairn Gate

The Woodward Estate at Glencairn Gate, Dublin 18, is an award-winning residential development of 352 homes, comprising 3 and 4-bedroom houses and 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, all designed to achieve NZEB standards.

Located beside the Glencairn Luas stop, the scheme presented a number of complex engineering and site constraints, including the M50 motorway, the Luas line, existing heritage features and a protected structure at Glencairn House.

A key challenge was the delivery of the new access junction at Murphystown Road, including signalised crossings of the Luas line. This required close coordination with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Transdev, as well as independent road safety auditing.

The project also required careful coordination of structural, civil, transport and landscape design to integrate the new neighbourhood with its existing surroundings. The engineering strategy had to respond to the interfaces with the Luas and M50, while also supporting the sensitive integration of Glencairn House and Murphystown Castle and the creation of a landscape-led public realm.

Sustainability was embedded throughout the engineering design, with GGBS incorporated into concrete mixes to reduce cement content and embodied carbon, reuse of suitable site-won materials, and an extensive SuDS strategy incorporating green roofs, landscaped podiums, swales, permeable paving and attenuation measures.

The result is a high-quality, well-connected residential neighbourhood that demonstrates how thoughtful engineering and collaborative design can help unlock complex sites while responding sensitively to heritage, transport, environmental and construction challenges.

DBFL provided structural, civil and transportation engineering services throughout the project, working closely with Park Developments and the wider design team from planning through to final construction.