Abbot Vascular

The ultimate compliment a consultant can receive from a client is to receive an appointment for a new project. Since its inception in 1937 this is the measure used by Garland to determine the success of a project.

In 1971 Digital, the leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals, set up its European manufacturing operation in Ireland—a move that paid off in 1973 when Ireland was admitted into the European Common Market, helping the company quickly to seize a sizable market share in Europe. As part of this expansion, Garland were appointed by Digital in 1980 as Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers for the design of two new state of the art plants in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary and Galway.

The Clonmel plant was located on a 55 acre elevated site overlooking the spectacular vista of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. The building originally consisted of approximately 15,000 square meters of manufacturing space with associated offices in a magnificently landscaped setting with a feature fire water lake. As a result of a realignment of Digital's strategic objectives, Digital never opened the Clonmel Plant.

In June 1995, Segate Technology Inc., the world's largest supplier of disc drives and related components announced it was opening a manufacturing facility in the Former Digital Factory in Clonmel. They were so impressed with the existing facility, they immediately sought out the original design team. Garland were engaged to design the necessary alterations and fit-out of the facility, along with ongoing improvements of the facility. In the first 18 months of operations 2,000,000 disc drives were produced and 1500 people were employed. In 1997 as a result of over-supply in a contracting market, Seagate closed the facility.

In April 1998, The Guidant Corporation acquired the facility. Garland was again engaged to set about the design of the necessary alterations to support the manufacture of pacemakers and stents. Garland’s involvement with Guidant continued over the years as the facility continually evolved and adapted to suit changing requirements.

In 2004 a major extension was announced to double the size of the facility to accommodate 1,000 new employees. Garland commenced work on the design of the new four storey manufacturing suite which comprised of two levels of clean room manufacturing suites, each with an interstitial level of plant located directly above them. This facilitated flexible hook-up of production lines. The suite would be used for the production of the next generation of powder coated stents. The fast track design approach ensured that Abbott Vascular's first FDA-approved stent delivery devices were released to markets worldwide less than 10 months after project conception.

The Guidant Corporation was taken over by Abbott Vascular in 2006. As part of the takeover some of aspects of the operation were sold to Boston Scientific who co-located on the site. Garland were retained again to design a new administration, warehouse and logistic facility in Clonmel which was opened in 2009. This project created a contemporary and modern façade and has become a landmark on the way into Clonmel with the iconic “Abbott Eye” overlooking the magnificent Slieve Bloom Mountains. The infrastructure of the site was redesigned by Garland to allow for a full separation of the Abbott Vascular and Boston Scientific Sites. Garland continues to be involved in both the Abbott and Boston Scientific sites.

1 site + 5 Clients + 4 Decades + Garland = Success