How Business Leaders can Pivot Concrete Engineering Solutions to Embrace Modern Methods of Construction
ClearTech offer advanced engineering solutions, such as the post tensioning of concrete products and modular volumetric construction, to maximise the efficiency and sustainability of builds. This is achievable because CEO & Director Feargal Cleary backs upskilling in Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
A 2025 Skillnet Ireland report on Future Skills and Talent Challenges found that nearly half of Irish business leaders participated in upskilling programmes from 2024-2025. This appetite for talent development at the highest level of operations spans regions, verticals, and personal backgrounds. And engineering / construction is no exception.
ClearTech Consulting Engineers was an early advocate for Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in Ireland, offering solutions such as post-tensioning and volumetric building to clients from the 2000s. However, with the construction industry booming before the 2008 economic downturn, there was hesitancy to stray from tried and trusted methods.
Feargal Cleary, CEO & Director of ClearTech, shows that market needs have changed.
“There were about 250,000 construction workers in Ireland in the mid-2000s. Now, that's around 170,000. We just aren’t going to get back to those numbers again any time soon, so we need to prioritise project speed and efficiency.”
CEO & Director of ClearTech
Feargal added that the construction sector is transformed even from six years ago.
“After Covid-19, we noticed an increase in the adoption of digital tools in the industry and there was a definite growth in interest in modern methods of construction. Because ClearTech has always prioritised staying technically ahead of the curve, we chose to embrace MMC at every level.”
CEO & Director of ClearTech
In 2024, the company became a member of Construct Innovate, Ireland’s national sustainable construction and built environment technology centre. Around this time Feargal also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Innovation with University of Galway. A year later, he advanced this qualification to a Masters, writing a thesis on Reimagining Housing in Ireland: Integrating Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) and MMC into a Cost-Efficient Digital Framework. While ClearTech has offered volumetric building services in markets such as Southeast Asia for decades, the firm is still developing its capabilities for the Irish market.
Post tensioning is another MMC engineering solution (Category 6) that ClearTech has deployed more regularly on Irish projects. This includes at Spencer Place, a mixed-use development in Dublin’s Dockland Development Zone.
Spencer Place encompasses three buildings built over a shared three-story basement, a total of 66,599 square meters distributed across seven floors. Key features include a 212-bed hotel, a variety of restaurants and retail units and 46,184 square meters of LEED Platinum-rated offices for Salesforce’s European HQ. A striking 11-meter-wide glazed atrium further enhances the project’s architectural distinctiveness.
ClearTech was engaged to design the post-tensioning concrete systems for Spencer Place. Post-tensioning is a method for reinforcing concrete by installing high-strength steel tendons within concrete ducts or sleeves before placement. Once the concrete has hardened, tension is then applied to the tendons to anchor them against the outer edges of the concrete. This compression increases the strength of the structure.
The Spencer Place project presented unique structural engineering challenges, particularly due to the incorporation of a 7.5-meter cantilever extending from the second floor upwards. ClearTech delivered a cost-effective post-tensioning design which facilitated the removal of traditional steel beams in certain areas.
Orhan Musaoglu, ClearTech’s Chief Engineer, shared expertise gained over a lengthy engineering career on the pros of using post-tensioning in the Spencer Place project.
“Though I wasn’t involved in this project as I joined ClearTech later, post tensioning was appropriate for Spencer Place because it is an engineering solution allowing the for the build of stronger, more versatile structures with longer column spans while reducing material consumption.”
Chief Engineer, ClearTech
This ultimately resulted in in substantial cost savings for the client and reductions in the project’s embodied carbon, which directly contributed to the client’s ESG objectives.
Orhan joined ClearTech as a Structural Engineer with a background in researching the effect of post tensioning on concrete and designing “50+ bridges and 60+ buildings across nine countries” using this system. In less than two years Orhan was promoted to his current Chief Engineer role, to reflect the value of his expertise as a Structural Engineer but particularly, in post tensioning.
“I completed a Master’s degree in Türkiye, writing my thesis on post tensioning. I have pursued post tensioning projects across my career, taking me to many countries but particularly major developments in US. After Covid-19 I wanted a change of scenery and after researching, I realised the Irish construction industry could offer new potential for my career. I also realised ClearTech was one of the few experts in post tensioning in the country. So, I moved to Ireland.”
Chief Engineer, ClearTech
Upon joining the company, Orhan was immediately supported with an upskilling programme to get him up to speed on ClearTech’s post tensioning services.
“While I was an expert in the US codes for designing concrete structures, I needed to get up to date with the European codes. ClearTech put me through a course on EuroCode 2: Design of Concrete Structures, taught by the Institute of Structural Engineers, which made my knowledge more relevant.”
Chief Engineer, ClearTech
That wasn’t all, though. ClearTech arranges regular CPD webinars for its engineers to keep skillsets up to date and the company is also supporting Orhan through his chartered engineering exams. As a qualified Chartered Engineer, Orhan’s career prospects and value-add to key projects would automatically increase greatly.
Embracing continuous professional development aligned to sector demands is now a core part of operations, with Feargal’s top-down approach to upskilling followed by the whole organisation. Weekly company meetings are a great opportunity for Feargal to share insights with the team and, as Construct Innovate members, ClearTech staff have access to regular events and webinars covering relevant industry knowledge.
“In structural engineering, continuous learning builds stronger engineers just as surely as good design builds stronger structures. Weekly meetings keep that learning alive.”
CEO & Director of ClearTech
In addition to ongoing internal technical training, ClearTech has recently supported staff participation in Enterprise Ireland and InterTrade Ireland training programmes in the areas of leadership, growth, export, and sustainability.
As for the future, Orhan will continue to develop his expertise in key areas of MMC.
“I want to develop my expertise in modular volumetric building as this is an area of strategic development in the Irish market for ClearTech. Any methods of construction that generate lower-carbon-footprint structures is pivotal to more of sustainable building. Aligning my own learning to areas ClearTech wants to develop will make the company, and my skills, more valuable in the future.”
Chief Engineer, ClearTech
This approach helps ClearTech to address the sector’s leadership gaps and ensure staff are across the emerging developments in MMC technologies and processes.
“Business leaders need to take on the challenge of reducing barriers to entry of adopting MMC. That can mean advocating as much as possible for MMC solutions. For us, it also meant upskilling and nurturing our own capabilities in sustainability, digitalisation, and critical innovation practices.”
CEO & Director of ClearTech
From offering best-in-class engineering services in Post Tensioning and Building Information Modelling, to developing its capability in modular volumetric construction to offer leading low-carbon-intensity building systems, ClearTech is all in on MMC.
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