Reddy celebrates 40th

BUILDING bridges in the air for internet search engine companies, completing a psychiatric care hospital for the Under 18s in Cherry Orchard, Dublin, and fitting out offices in Cork for the likes of VMware and extensions for Boston Scientific — the architectural practice Reddy O’Riordan Staehli is back being busy as it celebrates its 40th birthday.

Bucking the gloom that has decimated the design profession during the construction downturn, the firm has seen its employment numbers start to pick up in the past year, says Cork office director Paul Butler. Under the umbrella of the multi-office name Reddy, RORSA employment is now at 20, up from a low of 14, having hit 80 during the mid-2000s, when the Reddy practice was one of Ireland’s top design employers.

Current work between its Dublin and Cork offices include a new, three-way bridge for a major search engine company’s Dublin HQ, plus a fit-out of buildings at Barrow Street, totalling 160,000 sq ft and due for a phased completion in 2013. In Cork, they’ve sizeable recent projects for Boston Scientific and Styrker, with new schools ‘on the boards’ for St Columba’s BNS in Douglas, and Scoil Nioclais in Grange.