The business has grown every year and we have been lucky to get references constantly

Plantech are a professional Architectural Design and Build company specialising in residential projects. Prior to founding Plantech, Managing Director Christopher Boylan studied Civil Engineering at D.I.T. Bolton Street, with a passion for technical drawing and home design, the business was born in 2007. Initially specialising in planning applications and architectural draughting before evolving into a ‘one stop shop,’ home design and build service to meet client requirements.

Plantech’s services include Architectural and Engineering design, planning applications, project management as well as design and build.

The company processes your query through a few simple steps including query, meet, design, quote, contract, build and certify.

Plantech projects have received national media recognition and recently the Company has also recently received a ”five in a row Certificate of Accreditation” at the All-Ireland Business All Star Awards, where they received the award for best in class Architectural Design and Build Company of the year 2023.”

This accreditation is in recognition of the company’s outstanding contribution to quality and standards in the sector over the last five years. This accreditation recognises Plantech Designs conduct in the areas of trust, commitment, performance and customer centricity.

“The business has grown every year and we have been lucky to get references constantly.

We have an excellent design team and site crews who work to the highest standards as set and expected by the company.

The toughest element of our industry process throughout this period (post pandemic) has been our clients willingness to commence a build on completion of their designs and or planning applications. Factors of no confidence include their own job insecurity, global conflicts, interest rate and cost of living hikes, the price of materials and labour increase. It is a changing time but we are changing with our customers and we’re adapting to suit their requirements. We have a very specific niche target market and are focused on giving our select clients the optimum value for their investment. Our client s project is our passion.

“Our design studio and showroom is based in Dublin, in association with our main building contractor partners we provide building services in the Dublin and surrounding satellite town areas only due to logistic restrictions, – we do however provide design services nationwide,” explained Christopher Boylan.

“In 2023 the realistic budget for a major home renovation and extension project currently is between €250,000 to €500,000 other factors like professional fees, connection services, Local Authority contributions, interior décor, contingency and VAT need to be considered when calculating a total bottom line.

This in addition to the average cost of a home in Dublin circa €500-€850k is a huge investment and something a homeowner will not get a return on any time in the near future.

So there is actually no such thing as a ‘good time,’ to build or renovate your home as it comes down to each individuals circumstances, budget and personal requirements.

“For the majority of recent design and build projects, we are seeing clients investing these amounts of fees into their ‘forever family home,’ and not considering resale value. Lower budget renovations projects are also feasible but compromises need to be made on finishes and the overall scope of works. These types of projects tend be geared toward building survey recommendations of essential piecemeal works and actioned via direct labour.“

Christopher Boylan

“In addition to the complexities and price increases in the private market, at the opposite end of the spectrum we have an obvious current housing crisis, which requires rapid action.

Irish citizens housing requirements coupled with the influx of international refugees arriving into the country has resulted in a national emergency.

“We’re branching into eco-structures, pre-fabrications, concrete and steel construction, we can design and build pre-fabricated eco homes rapidly for any local authorities throughout the country.

I think planning laws are going to need to change in the short term future to aide in the housing crisis, as well as the fast tracking of some of those legislations, including the current appeal system-which can take 6-12+months.

The traditional Irish home build is onsite blocks and mortar but I can see prefabrication/offsite construction becoming the main form of house building here, and we should to consider the European model of ecohomes or similar as a template,” he imparted.

“Our country has extremely challenging times ahead but with good Political leadership, investment and proactive we have an opportunity to use this housing crisis to our advantage and create a construction boom for our economy,” concluded Mr Boylan.

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