Posts by lotus_admin

Last week the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government held a workshop on sustainable urban planning, with a particular focus on the proposed design standards for new apartments that were issued in draft form last December. Despite this being a public workshop, it was interesting to see representatives from some of the largest development…

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) this week published their latest research showing that Ireland needs to focus on development of what it terms ‘second-tier’ cities as the key to sustainable growth. Tracking growth in recent years, the ESRI has found that allowing the same pattern of growth to continue will likely lead to…

So far this week, Aecom Ireland published its annual review, forecasting construction industry growth of 14% in 2018 after five years of consecutive growth, and one of the global industry stalwarts imploded. It has certainly been an unexpected start to the New Year. The UK-based construction and services company, Carillion, which employs 43,000 globally, collapsed on Monday…

URBACT is a cross-state European programme established 15 years ago to enable cities and large towns to work together and share information necessary to address common urban challenges. In the Republic of Ireland, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Naas, Limerick, Kilkenny, Longford and Monaghan participate. In preparation for what has evolved into the smart cities movement, URBACT brings…

When the draft guidelines for new apartments were published by the Housing Department last month, it was stated that Ireland needed to embrace a more ‘European’ approach to city living, however, it was not made clear exactly that means. It likely means greater density, to be achieved by increased building heights and smaller homes, but…

Earlier this year, a UK study of the global construction market forecast that construction output will grow by 85% to almost €13.5 trillion by 2030. If accurate, this represents average construction growth of 3.9% per annum, which is more than one percentage point higher than the expected global GDP. It is widely accepted that activity…

Our weekly article is below, just before that, on behalf of all of us at Lotus, I would like to wish you a happy Christmas and that 2018 brings many blessings. As 2017 draws to a close, it is a good time to reflect on how the various sectors of the Irish market have performed…

In a week when Dublin property prices are reported to have risen 86% since the crash and the latest ESRI report forecasts strong growth in the economy, it is not surprising to see LPT or property tax receipts up by €3 million. Of course, none of these positive statistics are indicators of new homes into…

It sounds a cliche to ask businesses how well they know their audiences, yet cliches tend to be based on truth. Within the Irish construction sector, we have seen transformational changes over the past decade -well beyond the usual cycle of chaotic activity, crash, survival, come-back –  but has the transformation of prospective occupiers been…

Many of you may have come across Mark Farmer’s controversial study of the UK construction labour model last year, for those of you who haven’t, the title ‘Modernise or Die’ certainly shook up the sector.  I recommend adding it to your Christmas reading list. – Click here to read more. One major focus of the…