In 2006 John joined Quinn Architects (Quinn Savage Smyth) as a Junior Architectural Technologist. John quickly gained experience delivering various sized projects in the Healthcare and Education sectors. In 2011, to broaden his horizons, he moved to Australia. There he expanded his skills and experience to include mixed-use high-rise, commercial & retail fitout, plus financial & government buildings projects. During this time he was introduced to Building Information Modelling and started to upskill in 3D modelling and using BIM as a means of design information delivery on construction projects. He also gained valuable experience in M&E design and clash avoidance and even found himself in the role of designing fire sprinkler protection & smoke alarm systems for high-rise towers and shopping centres. In 2016 John returned to Quinn Architects as a Senior Architectural Technologist & BIM Manager.
The retrofit of Beckton Dickinson (BD) Research Centre Ireland – Castletroy, Co Limerick is one of the more notable projects John has worked on through Quinn Architects recently. This project involved full scale retrofit of an existing derelict recreation & leisure building to deliver BD’s flagship research and product development centre. The development consists of offices, meeting pods, board rooms, associate breakout & recreation spaces, research labs, testing labs & machine/tool rooms. Since the initial handover, Quinn Architects have been back to deliver additional internal fitouts of vacant spaces within the facility such as new lab spaces, cleanrooms, ancillary support rooms, and most recently we have provided design services for a biosafety level 3 containment lab. John also took on the lead role for SK Biotek – P3 Expansion – Swords, Co Dublin. This project was a retrofit of existing P3 production facility at SK Biotek site in Swords. The project included the architectural specification of two separate “Wet” & “Dry” production areas to house pharmaceutical manufacturing plant such as industrial reactors, a conical dryer, a centrifuge, as well as housing support equipment and sealed separation of chemically contaminated areas, movement of materials and personnel, and ensuring compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Statutory, Construction, and Fire Safety Regulations.
John has a keen interest in ecologically sound building materials. Those being; materials used in construction which (when compared with modern conventional materials), require less energy in production, use natural base materials where possible, contribute to low environmental toxicity in-situ, and those which can be easily recycled/upcycled/composted at end of use. This interest ultimately manifested in the refurbishment of an 1800’s era stone farmhouse which he personally renovated as a self-build project. Examples of such material choices include; timber frame/hempcrete instead of concrete blocks/synthetic insulation, hemp fibre insulation batts instead of mineral/glass wool for dry lining stone walls, sheep wool attic insulation instead of mineral/glass wool, wool carpets instead of synthetic floor coverings, low VOC breathable paints instead of polymer based paint finishes. John also took a vapour-open approach to the design of the thermal envelope so that the walls and roof can breathe to regulate internal air humidity and reduce risk of degradation or mould growth within the overall building fabric.
