The National Construction Manufacturer Taking Long-Standing Precast Concrete Technologies into the Future
Precast concrete may seem modern – but the way Kilsaran Precast is developing prefabricated concrete products in their new plant for construction developments makes the long-standing technology seem novel. How does digital design, automated manufacturing, seamless onsite installation, and upskilling in Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) tie into precast concrete production at Kilsran Precast?
“Precast concrete, as a product, is inherently one of the Modern Methods of Construction – even though the process itself has been around for decades.”
Managing Director of Kilsaran Precast
Few people better to address this quirk in the definition of precast concrete than Derek Duffy, Managing Director for Kilsaran’s precast concrete division. With 30+ years of experience working with the material, Derek is innately aware of the benefits of using precast concrete for healthcare, education, and residential building developments.
“Precast concrete has been around in Ireland since the early 1970s. When I started working in construction in the mid-1990s, it was more resource-intensive and complicated to use precast concrete than blockwork. Irish companies typically didn’t have the machinery to prefabricate the precast products or the expertise to operate this machinery, so many companies delayed investing at all. That’s changed now and precast concrete is certainly a viable option.”
Managing Director of Kilsaran Precast
Kilsaran Precast provides high-quality, prefabricated products, including twin walls, solid walls, insulated sandwich walls, composite half slabs, solid slabs, balconies, and stairways. The experienced Kilsaran team can also design and manufacture bespoke products for any type of construction project. It’s all about ensuring the composite elements of a building project are designed uniformly for maximum efficiency.
“Precast is just a standardised kit of parts for different elements of a building project, meaning a predictable amount of concrete material required for each product and predictable timelines for design, manufacturing, and assembly.”
Managing Director of Kilsaran Precast
This predictability also translates to faster construction timelines overall. Derek estimates that using precast concrete rather than traditional concrete blockwork can decrease the overall length of time needed for a project by up to 35%. This efficiency differs depending on the precast concrete product used.
As an example, Kilsaran’s twin wall system is finished upon manufacture, negating the need to finish with plastering and skimming. This prefabricated internal finish can reduce build times by 20%, depending on the project, while it also means fewer subcontractors onsite. This drives down overall costs while streamlining operations.
But, to offer customers this time and labour efficiency, Kilsaran Precast needs to ensure products are manufactured and installed to their precise design specifications.
All digital designs for building projects, created by Kilsaran’s design team, are sent in real time to the company’s precast concrete facilities in Kildare and Galway. Digital files are interactive and editable by both teams, allowing for changes as needed. This seamless exchange of data ensures all precast products are entirely fit for purpose, with no redundancy. Once these products have been manufactured and transported to site, Kilsaran’s assembly teams are able to access these design files onsite to efficiently install the precast concrete elements with minimal delays or downtime.
Across the three areas of operations, Kilsaran Precast requires expertise in at least 16 different roles. In a market with reduced numbers of construction workers available, that could present a challenge. Luckily, Kilsaran Precast delivers a range of training internally, with major opportunities for upskilling and mobility across the business.
“Because we are one of Ireland’s largest construction companies, we have a strong spread of work sites nationwide. That means we can link in with a variety of different local educators, from universities to ETBs to private providers.”
Managing Director of Kilsaran Precast
The primary training programme offered at Kilsaran is a Higher Certificate in Civil Engineering, a two-year blended course offered through Atlantic Technological University. The course provides students with the skills needed to become a civil engineering technician through work based learning and online classes. With this approach, student ‘earn while they learn’ in a design office environment on live projects. The company, meanwhile, gets to tailor the student’s training to its specific requirements. For Kilsaran Precast, this can mean a focus on design work, learning about offsite manufacturing, or direct experience of onsite assembly work.
Kilsaran also offers a wide range of other upskilling opportunities across the business’ numerous divisions. Structured continuous professional development (CPD) includes attending formal courses, company training, structured and verified toolbox talks, attending and speaking at verified conferences and CPD events, and online learning. Manager training and development is also core to the business, with twice-yearly manager training days giving Kilsaran’s managers updated and reinforced knowledge on issues including Health & Safety, operational efficiency, and communications.
“I’m a big believer in people taking control of their own upskilling. We offer the mobility around the business for people to focus on whatever area they want.”
Managing Director of Kilsaran Precast
Kilsaran Precast's staff work between three sites: Brownstown in Co. Kildare, Oranmore in Co. Galway (after the acquisition of Oran Precast in 2021), and a new facility in Arthurstown, Co. Kildare, opened by the Minister for Housing, James Browne, in November 2025. The facility includes launched Omnia floor carousel plant, which automates the manufacturing of Kilsaran’s precast twin-wall systems. This reduces the manual labour requirements at the site and increases speed of production.
The Skillnet MMC Accelerate team recently delivered a business support event in Arthurstown, Derek presenting on the strategic advantages of this new precast facility.
“In 2025, we will have completed about 2,300 apartment units over the year. The Arthurstown plant will allow us to deliver an additional 1,500 apartments, bringing our total output of precast concrete units to 3,800 per annum.”
Managing Director of Kilsaran Precast
He also discussed two recent projects that Kilsaran Precast worked on in partnership with John Paul Construction: The Carriageworks and Sandyford Central, both in Dublin.
The first is a residential development comprising 702 apartments, from eight to 18 storeys, spread across eight blocks in the north city centre. Kilsaran Precast designed, manufactured, and installed the prefabricated structural frame for The Carriageworks buildings. The scope of works was similar for the project in Sandyford, Dublin 18, comprising 564 apartments over six blocks, anchored by a landmark 17-storey tower.
With the production capability of three BIM-driven, automated facilities, Kilsaran Precast can continue producing high-quality developments and make long-standing precast concrete technologies everyday in a more efficient construction industry.
