Diversification at home and abroad: The hallmarks of Walls’ continued growth

Walls Construction is evolving on all fronts, from its expanding management team to its new tech division, and alongside a strong performance in its traditional markets, ADRIAN CORCORAN, Managing Director; and FRANK KELLY, Executive Chairperson, Walls, speak with Irish Construction News about an excellent 2025 and their optimism for the year ahead.

Founded in 1950, Walls Construction is one of Ireland’s leading privately owned building contractors, operating across various sectors including commercial, residential, data centres, healthcare, education and life sciences. The company recorded a turnover of €670m in 2025 and employs 525 people, a figure that continues to grow alongside the business itself. This growth was achieved against a background of several internal appointments to strengthen the leadership team and the establishment of a separate division, Walls Technology Ltd (WTL).

ICN: YOU ESTABLISHED WALLS TECHNOLOGY LAST YEAR. HOW IS THIS NEW OPERATION BEDDING IN, AND WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR IT?

AC: Given our strong reputation for delivering challenging, large-scale projects, it made sense to establish a separate division to focus on high-growth, technically complex sectors such as life sciences, food and beverage, and digital infrastructure.

Historically, our international turnover was negligible, and establishing our technology sector operations as a distinct division is both exciting and well-timed, and will result in a sizeable increase in our overseas-generated revenue in future years.

Led by a team of experienced Walls senior managers, WTL has made considerable progress in the past year, with major data centre projects in Ireland, Belgium and Finland as well as several life sciences projects for clients such as Merck, Bausch & Lomb and Hovione now under construction throughout Ireland.

ICN: WOULD YOU COMMENT ON WHAT YOU CONSIDER THE KEY PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS AND INITIATIVES IN 2025?

AC: Four years ago, we set a target to achieve a more balanced sectoral portfolio by increasing our activity in various sectors, many of which we were historically strong in, such as education and healthcare/pharma. These included data centres, life sciences, and the process sector, and we are delighted to have met these targets in full.

Just recently, we were incredibly proud to hand over phase one of the cutting-edge Diageo brewery in Newbridge and working on such a prestigious campus project was a significant milestone in our diversified growth plan.

ICN: REFLECTING ON A STRONG 2025, HOW HAVE YOU POSITIONED THE COMPANY TO CAPITALISE ON THE CURRENT CYCLE IN IRISH CONSTRUCTION OVER THE NEXT 18 MONTHS?

FK: During 2025 and into this year, we have been fortunate to continue on a path of commencing major projects that involve significant multi-year turnover, and, consequently, we have a strong order book for the remainder of 2026 and a good line of sight in 2027 and 2028.

Amongst those projects under construction is the National Velodrome and Badminton Centre, Dublin 15, a landmark national sports facility at the Sport Ireland Campus, featuring Ireland’s first indoor velodrome alongside world-class badminton courts. Meanwhile, Richmond Village, a major residential project comprising almost 800 new homes on the site of St Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview, Dublin 3, is being delivered as part of the Project Tosaigh initiative by the Land Development Agency (LDA). In addition to the new homes, this major development will include retail outlets and community amenities, creating a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood, while a new mental health facility will be delivered separately for St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fairview.

HOW IS WALLS MITIGATING INFLATIONARY PRESSURES TO ENSURE PROJECT DELIVERY SCHEDULES REMAIN ON TRACK?

FK: In the current market, mitigating inflationary pressure is about getting ahead of risk and maintaining tight control over procurement and programme from the outset. At Walls, we place strong emphasis on an early package appointment strategy, market testing, and engaging with key subcontractors and suppliers at the earliest possible stage to secure capacity, improve pricing certainty and avoid unnecessary disruption later in the programme.

We also focus heavily on buildability, sequencing and programme logic during pre-construction, because in a live delivery environment, delays in one package can quickly have knock-on effects across the entire project. Strong site management, timely design release, and close coordination among the client, consultant, and supply chain teams are all critical to maintaining momentum. In practical terms, it comes down to planning well, buying well and managing the interfaces rigorously throughout the job.

WHAT LESSONS HAVE BEEN LEARNED OR WHAT INNOVATIVE MEASURES HAVE YOU INTRODUCED TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES?

AC: Delivering higher-density residential schemes successfully depends on getting the fundamentals right very early in the process.

One of the key lessons we have learned is the importance of integrating design, buildability, programme and procurement strategy from the outset, particularly on complex urban sites where logistics, phasing and interfaces have a major bearing on efficiency. Over time, we have introduced more disciplined pre-construction planning, greater use of digital coordination and sequencing tools, and a stronger focus on standardisation where it adds value, all of which help to improve certainty, reduce rework and support programme performance.

A major area of focus for us has also been quality in the field – getting things right first time through better planning, clearer package coordination, stronger supervision and more consistent quality control on site. We are also making greater use of project data and key delivery metrics across jobs, which helps us identify trends, benchmark performance, and apply lessons learned more systematically from one project to the next.

WHAT SUSTAINABILITY GOALS HAVE BEEN SET FOR WALLS, AND COMMENT ON YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS?

FK: From a sustainability perspective, the emphasis is increasingly on reducing waste, improving material efficiency, lowering embodied carbon where practical, and managing energy and resource use more effectively on site. In terms of residential building, our largest sector, the overall objective is to deliver high-quality residential developments in a way that is more predictable, more efficient and more environmentally responsible.

2025 marked the conclusion of our 2022 ESG Action Plan, and its replacement sets out our journey to 2030, crystallised in a framework based on sustainability, carbon and biodiversity”.

Our roadmap is grounded on six key pillars: ‘Business Conduct’, ‘Climate Change’, ‘Resource Use and Circularity’, ‘Pollution Control’, ‘Biodiversity and Ecosystems’, and ‘People and Communities’, and is firmly rooted in three target-driven, measurable action plans to deliver continuous improvement across all our business functions.

ICN: WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON HOW REFORMS THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS MADE TO DATE WILL FACILITATE OUTPUT?

FK: There has been meaningful progress, and it is important to acknowledge the range of initiatives the government has introduced in recent years to help accelerate housing delivery, whether through planning reforms, funding supports, public land activation or measures designed to bring greater momentum into the system. Those interventions have helped, and they reflect a clear recognition of the scale of the challenge.

However, it is also fair to say that the pace of delivery still falls short of what is needed if Ireland is to meet its housing, infrastructure and climate objectives at the scale required. Greater consistency, speed and coordination across the delivery system remain essential, from planning decisions and utility connections to procurement and statutory approvals. At the same time, viability continues to hamper many developments, particularly as costs, funding conditions and delivery risk remain challenging. The industry has both the capability and the willingness to deliver, but to unlock the full potential of the National Development Plan, the broader frameworks supporting delivery must continue to evolve with the same urgency as the ambitions they are intended to support.

FINALLY, LOOKING TOWARDS 2030, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THIS LEADERSHIP ERA AT WALLS DEFINED?

AC: We would like this period at Walls to be defined less by any single project and more by the kind of business we have built – one that has grown in a sustainable and balanced way, broadened its reach across sectors and geographies, and strengthened its capacity to respond to a changing market. Scale matters, of course, but what matters more is the quality and resilience of that growth, which for Walls means continuing to diversify our sectoral base, expanding our international footprint in a considered way, and building an organisation that is operationally strong, commercially disciplined and adaptable for the long term.

Just as importantly, we intend to be recognised as a business that remains deeply client-centric — focused on understanding our clients’ priorities, delivering with consistency, and building long-term relationships based on trust, performance and repeat business. We would also like this era to be associated with progress in the industry’s culture, creating more opportunities for women in construction, improving gender balance across the organisation, and embedding a real and lasting commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. If we can look back and say that Walls grew not only in size, but in strength, capability, client focus and character, that would be a very worthwhile legacy.

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