Boston Scientific Cork: Sustainable renovation breathing new life into vacant industrial building
Boston Scientific, Ireland’s leading medical device employer, has made significant investments in its Irish sites over the past 30 years.
Boston Scientific is one of the world leaders in medical device manufacturing with a mission to transform lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world.
Boston Scientific Cork manufactures medical devices for the treatment of various disease states including cancers, arterial blockages in the heart and lower limbs, strictures in the GI tract and many more.
The site produces approximately 25 million devices every year positively impacting patients with lifesaving or life-enhancing minimally invasive surgeries.
The Cork site was first established on the Model Farm Road in Cork in 1997 with the purchase of 30 acres which included a small advance IDA factory unit and equally significant, the Munster Institute of Agriculture.
In the past 25 years, there has been strong growth and investment in the site with the launch of many new products. The manufacturing and support space has expanded very substantially to where all 30 acres are fully developed to support medical device manufacturing.
The growth from 2017 to today has been especially impressive with nearly 20 new products launched, bringing novel technologies to the site. The output has essentially doubled in that time as has the workforce.
To facilitate the ongoing growth in output from the site, the company acquired the former Logitech building in the IDA industrial park in 2023.
Built in the 1980s, it has been unoccupied for over 20 years. Boston Scientific's investment will breathe new life into the structure and render it productive for many years to come.
Following a remediation phase in 2024, plans are underway to develop the building into a dedicated centre for automated manufacture of medical devices. When complete in 2026, more than 16 million devices are expected to be shipped from the building every year.
Globally, Boston Scientific is committed to a healthier planet and takes action to reduce its carbon footprint and invest in efforts to build a sustainable, resilient business, ultimately bringing value to customers, patients, communities and the planet.
Boston Scientific has set a series of ambitious climate action goals, including to achieve carbon neutrality (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions) by 2030 in all manufacturing and key distribution sites. It is also a great example of how the organisation’s stretching de-carbonisation strategy drives good sustainable investment decisions over time.
Redeveloping an old structure has many cost and sustainability benefits. Revitalising older infrastructure prevents the waste associated with demolition as well as prevents the use of additional resources such as concrete and steel along with the associated carbon footprint.
The project also takes advantage of innovative green technologies to minimize energy consumption. The new production facility will be born green with a 100% decarbonised energy system which utilises high-efficiency heat pumps using heat captured from efficient air compressors.
The resulting manufacturing building will represent a step change reduction in the construction costs and energy profile of a medical device facility compared to the current standard.
The remediation phase is now complete with the recovering and insulation of the roof, cleaning and reinforcement of the steel structure, upgrade of the drainage systems and removal of all redundant infrastructure. The next phase will complete the utility and high-efficiency energy systems, and the final phase will be the fit out of the manufacturing and warehouse areas and the transfer of equipment.
The local community has been engaged throughout the project. The regeneration of the site is very much seen as a positive to the locality by improving the overall appearance of the industrial park and adjacent area.
Boston Scientific is the largest medical device employer in Ireland with manufacturing sites in Clonmel, Cork and Galway and has been growing for the past 30 years.
Overall, the investments in the three plants in Ireland has played a significant role in developing the strong MedTech ecosystem in Ireland.
Boston Scientific collaborates with the Irish Government and the IDA continues to support the investment in facilities, infrastructure and equipment for the expansion of capacity and potential for job creation with the new operations.
