The VHI brief called for a new extension to their existing Head Office on Lower Abbey Street on an adjoining site which was occupied by 2 Protected Structures – a Church and a Church Hall.  It was decided to construct over and around the Church Hall and make the Hall an internal feature of the office space.

As part of the contemporary design, the Architect required that no internal structural columns be on display and that all the columns be integrated within the façade.

CORA developed a structural scheme for the building which included innovative structural connection details to facilitate ease of construction and to minimise the erection and construction sequence for the building.

Another innovative approach was that the entire building is supported on mini-piles rather than traditional large diameter piles which reduced costs but increased the speed on construction as three rigs could work simultaneously installing the mini-piles.