PJ Walls and Brothers Limited was incorporated as a Company on the 23rd March 1950, with registered offices on Glandore Road, off Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.
Construction work started in the early 1960’s and was officially opened by An Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, in 1965. By 1970 Tynagh was the largest producing lead mine in Europe.
In 1965 Boeing announced its plans to produce a Jumbo 747 jet capable of carrying up to 400 passengers. This decision affected all of the major airports as new facilities were required to handle aircraft of this size.
In 1977 work started on the construction of the new Tralee General Hospital. Now known as University Hospital Kerry, it is the main hospital for Co. Kerry and is the third largest of seven acute hospitals in the HSE South Region.
On the 1st April 1986 Blackrock Clinic opened its doors as the first independent private hospital in Ireland. In 2014, 30 years after we started construction, we were selected to build a number of new facilities including an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Central Decontamination Unit (CDU).
The award winning O’Reilly Hall, designed by renowned architects Scott Tallon Walker and situated beside the lake on the UCD campus, opened in 1990.
In the year 2000 our Head Office premises opened, the second building completed at Northern Cross. In the following years the Walls Group developed the Hilton Dublin Airport Hotel and a major mixed use residential, commercial and retail development in this location.
Walls had completed the redevelopment of the original Point Depot in Dublin’s docklands as an entertainment venue and in 2008 we managed its award winning transformation to the O2 Dublin, now The 3 Arena.
This 40,000m2 8 storey building on Dublin’s Pearse Street incorporates biomedical, academic, commercial and retail use together with 2 levels of basement carpark space and a new pedestrian link to the adjacent railway station and remains the largest single construction project undertaken by Walls.
In 2015 the executive team, supported by private investors including members of the Walls family, acquired the Company. This investor blend, combining industry knowledge, experience, financial strength and the Walls family heritage, provides a strong foundation for the growth and development of the Company to 2050 and beyond.
The Central Bank of Ireland new headquarters building set the standard for the revitalisation of Dublin’s North Wall Quay between Spencer Dock and Dublin Port. The project included the completion of the existing concrete structure with the addition of a floor at roof level, a new triple façade including a distinctive anodised, aluminium coat comprising triangular and square mesh panels and an award winning internal fit-out. With a total area of 29,000m2, the use of high performance, long life materials has created a sustainable and energy efficient building with a BREEAM Outstanding accreditation, the first office development in Ireland to do so, and a BER A2 energy rating.
Frank Kelly, Construction Director, has been elected as President of the Construction Industry Federation. Frank has been actively involved in the CIF for many years, including the chair of the Safety, Health & Welfare committee, and he was previously President the Master Builders and Contractors Association. His presidency, which is for a two year term, is a personal honour for Frank and we are proud of his achievement and wish him well in his role, knowing that he will represent the Federation and Walls Construction to the very best of his ability.