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Cllr Mary Roche, Mayor of Waterford and Prof Kieran R Byrne, President, Waterford Institute of Technology have joined in congratulating Waterford Health Park on being short-listed for the World Architecture Festival Awards including World Building of the Year 2010 to be announced at the festival in Barcelona later this year.

Located in the former Presentation Convent at Slievekeale Road in the city, Waterford Health Park is one of just seven Irish and six completed healthcare buildings shortlisted for the prestigious global awards.

Congratulating Dr Mark Rowe, Dr Ita Creavin and their colleagues at Waterford Health Park, Cllr Roche said: “It is a tremendous achievement to have delivered such a first-class primary healthcare facility in one of our finest historic buildings and to do so with integrity and sensitivity. Indeed, not only has the best of the old buildings been retained, they have been added to. The entire project team deserve terrific credit for what has been done at this location. They have allowed new life to be breathed into old buildings and this is a very fitting 21st Century use for the former convent buildings.

“It is a real coup for Waterford to have a building that will now be among more than 230 from 55 countries to be showcased at the World Architecture Festival in November. Hundreds of architects from around the world and the international architecture press will now learn about this exceptional building which is quickly becoming a key part of Waterford’s built environment in its new use. Waterford Health Park will also now be included at www.worldbuildingsdirectory.com which will bring it to a large online audience.”

Prof Byrne added: “The entire project team for Waterford Health Park can be immensely proud of what they have created. The mix of ambition, aesthetic awareness and sustainability that have underpinned this entire project from concept through to completion has delivered an excellent end result that will stand the test of time. The challenge for the architects was particularly acute in that the original building was designed by the great architect Pugin, known as ‘God’s architect’. To have met the challenge of repurposing this building to meet pragmatic needs while reclaiming the original beauty of the building would have daunted most. This is really what vision is about.

“As a higher education institution, we are especially proud that our colleague Máire Henry who is Head of Department of Architecture is a principal with Fintan Duffy and Harry Bent of DHB Architects. This practice worked closely with Dr Mark Rowe and his colleagues to deliver this tremendous facility which offers a blueprint for how old buildings can be given new life and how various aspects of primary healthcare can be delivered in a single patient-centred location. Waterford Health Park well merits its short-listing for the World Architecture Festival Awards.” 

The 30,000-sq ft Waterford Health Park opened in May 2009 and is home to the Rowe Creavin Practice. Aside from family doctors, there is accommodation at the former convent for a pharmacy, primary care team (including nurses, a dietician, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and domiciliary midwifes) as well as medical consultants and complementary health practitioners.

The Waterford Health Park campus also features a healing garden in an inner courtyard while the Pugin-designed chapel is available as a community facility. The light-filled cafe is also open to the wider public who are welcome to visit the Waterford Health Park as an access point for health information or to view the architectural features of the historic building.

The primary healthcare facility which has been cited as an example of best practice in conservation and re-use of older buildings features in Government Policy on Architecture 2009-2015, Towards a Sustainable Future: Delivering Quality within the Built Environment.

• Further information is available at www.whp.ie and www.worldarchitecturefestival.com