OHLA, awarded twice by the Fundación Caminos for its National Forensic Mental Health Service Hospital project in Ireland and for promoting high-speed rail in Galicia
May 12, 2023
For its contribution to the sustainable development of the territory where it is located, in Portrane, Ireland, the Fundación Caminos has distinguished OHLA with the Albert Serratosa City and Territory Award, in the category “best project outside Spain”, for the construction of the National Forensic Mental Health Service Hospital, a high-security hospital complex for the treatment of mental illnesses and internationally recognized for its sustainable nature. In addition to this distinction, the company received an honorable mention for its participation in the Galicia high-speed rail access project, as part of an initiative promoted by ADIF (Spanish Railway Infrastructure Administrator).
The awards ceremony took place on May 12 in Madrid and was attended by a delegation from OHLA headed by José Antonio Fernández Gallar, CEO of the company. Also present were authorities such as Teresa Ribera, Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, who opened the event.
In his thank-you speech, OHLA’s CEO highlighted the work of the teams involved in both projects and emphasized the role of infrastructure as a lever for development and growth.
Example of sustainability and respect for the natural environment
The National Forensic Mental Health Service Hospital project is built as a campus on a 16-hectare site, and is distributed in ten buildings with capacity for 170 patients. It also has 13 hospital wards, a primary health care and therapy center, and an administrative complex with buildings for energy production, maintenance and horticulture, among other facilities. The complex is considered a high security center and is protected by a perimeter 2 km long and 5.2 m high.
During the design process of the project, the BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology was used to optimize costs and the responsible management of material resources, and it has achieved BREEAM Excellent sustainable certification thanks to measures such as recycling and energy efficiency. The initiative has also been distinguished with an Award Merit, granted by Engineering News-Record in the Health category of the Global Best Projects Awards 2022.
Pioneer in the development of the Spanish High-Speed Railway
OHLA has also been recognized in this edition of the Caminos Awards for its participation in the high-speed access project to Galicia, with an honorable mention, which consolidates the company’s experience in the railway field, where it has accumulated more than seven decades of experience and is positioned as a driving force in the development of high-speed rail in Spain, which began more than 30 years ago. This same work has already been awarded in the XII edition of the San Telmo Awards, granted by the College of Civil Engineers of Galicia, as the best civil engineering work executed in Galicia between 2020 and 2021.