WHEN JOHN SiSk & SON undertakes conservation projects, it draws on the skills – for instance in stone, plasterwork and carpentry – that its staff used to construct new buildings in the past (such as Cavan and Galway cathedrals and the Munster & Leinster Bank in Cork).

A fundamental love of natural materials such as stone and wood has been at the heart of Sisk’s work and was evident from its earliest years. John V’s tenacious passion for detail was evident in the lengths he went to in his quest to find the missing ingredient that would get the plasterwork exactly right at the Munster & Leinster Bank building in South Mall, Cork. A trip to London to source it was in vain, but he finally struck on the vital missing component when he tasted the sample – alum. All of the materials on that project were crafted by Sisk workers, and the ornate plasterwork in the dome was carried out by John V’s brother Richard.

One of Sisk’s first major conservation projects was on Dublin’s Custom House, which is somewhat related in style to Cork City Hall – a building the company had built from scratch in 1932. (Cork City Hall was John G’s first major project with the family business, and with its references to Dublin’s Custom House, it was an early indicator that he too embraced the same ambitious and meticulous approach to quality building work as his forebears).

The Custom House had been designed in 1781 by James Gandon, then just 38 years old. Gandon was a London-based architect who trained under William Chambers, who was also to work in ireland, for instance on later additions to Castletown House which Sisk recently restored.

Gandon was responsible for key neo-Classical buildings in Dublin, including the Four Courts, Bank of ireland on College Green and king’s inns (also later restored by Sisk).

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Custom House, Dublin (now the Department of the Environment). Major restoration carried out by John Sisk & Son ltd in 1988

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The Custom House needed to be restored in time for the building’s 200th anniversary in 1991, and the task was overseen by architect David Slattery of the Office of Public Works (OPW). Much of the work involved restoring the 18th century stonework which included statues and coats of arms by key sculptors and carvers of the day including Thomas Banks, an English sculptor who did a study tour of Rome, and was responsible for monuments in St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Other stone work is by Agostino Carlini, an italian sculptor and painter who lived in England and was one of the founder members of the Royal Academy, and Edward Smyth, who was born in Co Meath, and carved many of the figures for the Custom House including those on the south front of the building.

The OPW also commissioned Sisk to restore the Royal Hospital in kilmainham in 1980. The building, originally created for invalided soldiers in 1683, was designed by architect Sir William Robinson and was based on Les invalides in Paris. it comprises a four-sided structure enclosing a large central courtyard. Arcaded walks at courtyard level run beneath passages on the floors above.

Just as Gandon’s work had Palladian references, so too did Castletown House in Celbridge, Co kildare, which was also restored by John Sisk & Son in the late 1990s in work that included a new roof. The house was built by William Connolly (1662–1729), the Speaker of the irish House of Commons, using irish craftsmen and materials where possible. But it was an italian architect, Alessandro Galilei, who designed the main facade.

Top left: Southeast corner showing large sculptural features on the Custom House. Robert Ballagh was commissioned to paint the hoarding for the project, ably assisted by children in the locality. Courtesy of Robert Ballagh

Bottom right: The Old Soldiers Hospital kilmainham by James Malton. Photograph courtesy of the National Library of ireland

Top right and opposite: The Royal Hospital kilmainham, Dublin, 1983. A rare surviving non-ecclesiastical public building of the 17th century, most deserving of restoration. The ornate ceiling is formed from papier-maché

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Sisk was employed to repair the roof, parapet and cornice of the main building. The company restored the brick parapet with stone facing and stone cornice, using stone from the reopened original quarry at Edenderry. Much of the stone was hand-carved to match the original. The leaking roof had caused truss ends to rot, so these were repaired. To prevent further decay a temporary roof covered the building while new slate and lead was installed.

Sisk then restored the east and west colonnades and the roof of the west wing. The company also removed, repaired and relaid the granite steps at the house’s entrance.

At about the same time Sisk restored another James Gandon building, the king’s inns on Constitution Hill, Dublin, for barristers. Over its almost-200-year existence both weather and pollution had taken their toll on the building and Sisk was contracted to restore the granite and Portland stone exterior as well as refurbish the interior.

Two further restoration projects undertaken by Sisk also involved the construction of new buildings. One such was the Merrion Hotel, which saw the conversion, in 1997, of four listed Georgian houses into a grand hotel, while a new six-storey hotel and apartment block was built to the rear, designed by Burke-kennedy Doyle architects.

The work involved repairing and restoring original features such as doorcases, window frames, floors and the restoration of the Rococo stucco plasterwork ceilings, in lime and crushed marble, with motifs such as flowers, fruit and birds. The plasterwork was overseen by Séamus O’hEocha, a stuccadore known for his hand modelling of lime-based plaster. Layers of paint were removed to reveal the plaster underneath and missing pieces were replaced.

The other major conservation job involved the restoration of the Guinness Storehouse and installation of new sections. The building was originally constructed in 1904 to a design by AH Hignett of Guinness in the Chicago School of architecture style. it is a multi-storey steel-framed structure, and was used as a fermentation

Opposite and top left: Castletown House (1622–1729). ireland’s grandest Palladian style mansion. Underwent multi-phased restoration

Top right: king’s inns, Dublin

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building until 1988.

it became a visitor’s centre in 2000, comprising a six floor, 52,000sq m space. Designed by imagination and RkD, the building includes a 31m high atrium running up the centre of the building in the shape of a giant pint glass (which can be seen from each floor through glass walls), topped by a circular roof-top bar, with glass ceiling and walls that gives a panoramic view of Dublin.

Many of the original elements, such as girders, floors, ceramic work and brewing

Left: Cellar Bar at the Merrion Hotel Top right: Merrion Hotel Lobby

Bottom right: Carved stone staircase with wrought iron hand rail

Opposite: Dining room of the Merrion Hotel

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Guinness StorehouseLocated in the heart of the St James’ Gate Brewery, Guinness Storehouse is ireland’s number one paying-in visitor attraction. Originally built in 1904 the storehouse was constructed in the style of the Chicago School of architecture. The Storehouse underwent a major refurbishment and opened its doors in 2000. Guinness, another great irish family business, celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009

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The Training centre

John Sisk & Son has a team of highly skilled craftsmen to carry out its conservation work supported by its own carpentry and joinery workshop where each year new people are taken in and trained in the craft. it was started more than 40 years ago by John G, and it remains today a testament to his enduring enthusiasm for the basic materials of stone and timber. Even after he retired he would often visit the workshop.

“We get about 150 applicants a year and interview about 30 and take on between six and 10 people,” says David Tracey, training centre manager. These train at the centre over a four year apprenticeship, and spend periods at Fás, finishing with a National Craft Certificate. Most remain with the company and many of today’s management team started at the training centre.

As carpenters are often among the first and last to be on site during the building process, Tracey believes they get a good overview of all aspects of building. “Those trained up in-house this way are the best – they have the trade background and think the Sisk way, which is to say, they believe in quality and in getting the job done right.”

Reflecting its commitment to recognising skilled trades, Sisk sponsors the National Skills Competitions and World Skills Olympics, in the joinery and carpentry sections. its own staff have been in the finals a number of times.

“it promotes trades and definitely ups the skills,” says Tracey, who crafts the winner’s plaque in yew.

The workshop has provided timber elements for many of Sisk’s restoration projects for which it has to tender separately (it also works with other building companies).

On the Royal Hospital kilmainham project they worked on the sash windows and for king’s inns, the workshop refurbished the windows, skirting, architraves, mouldings and floorboards; all matching the original exactly.

The workshop also worked on the Merrion Hotel, including the skirting where the profile and pattern changed from one house to the next, across all four Georgian houses; keeping the style in each house true to the original even though all of the houses are now linked. At Custom House they worked on the replacement doors and windows over five years.

When the old Harcourt Street station building was being restored Tracey and his team took out one of the listed windows in order to see how it was made and reproduced it. “We specialise in bespoke pieces,” says Tracey, “i am interested in looking at how things were made in the past: all done by hand. Sometimes l’d say, ‘how did they do that?’ but i would never say never. We can do anything here and it is great to stand back and say, ‘we did that’, the job satisfaction is immense.”

The workshop also works on new buildings and has been involved in the shopping centres at Blanchardstown, Liffey Valley, the Pavilions Swords and Dundrum. it created a walnut staircase for the Alto Vetro apartment tower in the Docklands by architect Shay Cleary, and in nearby law firm McCann Fitzgerald’s Riverside One building, it created the main boardroom with its walnut panelling. Also in the Docklands, on the Spencer Dock project, the workshop worked on the buildings for accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and they provided all of the timber elements at Croke Park stadium, on both the Cusack and Hogan stands. Tracey has also created a wall of wooden letters for architect Daniel Libeskind’s Grand Canal Theatre in the Dublin Docklands. ■

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Top left: Reproducing a window from the former Harcourt Street railway station

Top right: Trainees and managers with products at the training centre

Bottom left: Not flat pack MDF but real woodworking

Bottom right: A special structure for a permanent exhibition at the National Museum, Collins Barracks

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Toy Story

For almost 50 years Sisk has honoured an annual Christmas toy-making tradition at the company’s timber workshop instigated by John G. in the run- up to Christmas, the training centre transforms into a Santa’s workshop when many of the staff construct around 450 beautiful, traditional-style toys to delight children in hospitals, orphanages, Barrettstown Gang Camp, centres for single mothers and in the Travelling community.

Chalk boards, rocking horses, Wendy houses and countless other toys are made here and then delivered to the lucky recipients.

“Typically we start into toy-making in October and our aim is to have everything delivered by the second week in December, when the lads dress up in Santa suits and head off in their trucks. When we arrive they are waiting for us; it goes down a treat,” says David Tracey, training centre manager ■

Right and opposite bottom left: At work in the joinery making the Christmas toys

Opposite top: Dave Tracey (far left) with the trainees and their annual toy-making output, a tradition maintained for 50 years

Bottom right: The trainees on completion of the toys campaign Christmas 2006

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equipment have been kept. The internal steel frame, comprising rolled and riveted steel joists and plated girders, was stripped back and repainted its original aqua blue. ■