Welcome to Designing BuildingServices, a new series oftechnical articles which will dealwith the challenges facing thedesigners of modern-daybuilding services.

Over the coming months we willfocus on the systems andmethods which can beemployed by designers to meetpersonnel comfort conditions,and product quality, in anenergy-efficient manner. We willhighlight critical areas ofimportance with a view tohelping them maximise theirdesign strengths and experiencewhile, at the same time,identifying potential pitfalls andminimising their impact.

Series Editor is Derek Mowlds,Project Manager at PM (ProjectManagement Group). Inaddition to writing some of thearticles himself, Derek will alsocommission colleagues within PMto cover specific topics which fallwithin their particular realm ofexpertise.

PM Group is Ireland’s largest full-service A&E firm. A Business &Finance Top 1000 company, itprovides professional services inproject and constructionmanagement, architectural andengineering design, andtechnical consultancy. It’sexpertise and experience in thehealthcare, education, researchand infrastructure sectors wasrecently underpined by theacquisition of Devereux

Architects, a top UK firm.Founded in Ireland over 30 yearsago, PM Group has grownsteadily over the years and isnow one of the leadingcompanies in the sector, not justin Ireland but throughout theworld.

Critical to its success is thequality of the services providedand the strength of the long-term relationships it hasestablished and maintained withits Irish and multi-national clients.

PM’s industry clients are in thebio-pharma, medical, advancedtechnologies and nutritionalssectors. They include Amgen,Abbott, Pfizer, Centocor, Janssen,Glaxo Smithkline, Novartis, Elan,Boston Scientific, Genzyme, Intel,Xerox and IBM.

In the public sector, PM hascarried out work for DublinAirport, Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann,NUIG, UCC, Cork City Council,Iarnrod Eireann, OPW, Bord Gáisand the Department ofEducation.

With a team of 1,600 people, PMwas recently listed amongIreland’s top employers in the”Best Companies to Work For”awards. In addition to bases inDublin and Cork, PM hassignificant multi-discipline officesin the UK and Poland.

Indeed, in Poland, Slovakia andRomania the company iscurrently supervising the

construction of 15 infrastructuralprojects with a total capitalvalue in excess of e450 million.The projects involve contracts inareas ranging from water andwastewater treatment, pipelinesand pumping stations, roads andbridges, tunnelling works, districtheating systems, to thedevelopment of a university lifescience facility and an advanceindustrial park.

Elsewhere in Europe PM isworking on projects with acapital value in excess of e200million. These include the e75million biotechnology expansionfor Genzyme in Geel, Belgium,the Danube Regeneration andProtection project and theprovision of advice and supportfor the establishment of public-private partnerships (PPPs) inMontenegro’s tourism sector.

Ongoing projects on the homefront include the e530 millionCentocor BiomedicinesManufacturing Campus atRingaskiddy in Cork; the newarrivals and departures Pier D atDublin Airport; Lansdowne RoadStadium redevelopment; andtwo separate projects involvingthe re-opening of disusedrailways and the construction ofrail stations in Cork and Leinsterfor Iarnrod Eireann.

It is against this background andthe extensive experience andknowledge base it representsthat the new series will be set.

bs newsmay 2007page ??

new technical series aimed at bs designers

BUILDING SERVICESdesigning

Derek Mowldse: derek.mowlds@pmg.ie

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