Ballymun was constructed as an answer to Dublin’s housing crisis in the 1960s. A £9miliion project at the time, it was designed to house ten thousand tenants in skyscrapers built on a green field site in North County Dublin. Ballymun was expected to “usher in a brave new era of housing.”
By the 1990’s, however, it was in urgent need of urban regeneration.The local council took a ten per cent sample of the Ballymun estate – the Plunkett Towers – and began upgrading it. Security and the lack of play facilities for children were recurring complaints.
New playgrounds secured by purpose-built railings and entry gates to each block were constructed to help enclose and protect tenants and their children. But how to keep the railings and gates in pristine condition for as long as possible – that was the problem which confronted the local council.
The railings for each block were colour coded and painted with Galvacoat®. Railings maintenance and durability were top of the council’s agenda and Galvacoat® was specifically chosen as it met these requirements – and also avoided the need for etch priming.
The railings in question remain untouched today, despite being in place for over sixteen years. There is still no sign of chipping and flaking, so the llifetime cost has proven very attractive to Dublin City Council.
Furthermore, given the success of the Plunkett Tower railings, the Council subsequently took the decision to finish the steelwork around the new housing areas in Ballymun with Galvacoat®.
