GRAHAM and Queen's University deliver school gardens under Belfast social value commitments

Queen's University Belfast has funded new community gardens at two South Belfast primary schools, delivered by contractor GRAHAM as part of community benefit commitments attached to its Weavers' Hall and iREACH Health construction schemes.

The gardens are at St Malachy's Primary School and Blythefield Primary School, both close to the Queen's campus, GRAHAM said. The spaces are intended to give pupils safe, accessible green space, promote biodiversity and encourage healthier lifestyles.

GRAHAM, named in the release as Graham Construction, acted as project delivery partner. The university said the work forms part of its commitment to embedding social value in its campus development.

Andrea Tiernan, principal at St Malachy's Primary School, said of the garden: "It provides a welcoming, inclusive space where our children can learn outdoors, be creative and support their wellbeing."

Catherine Roulston, principal at Blythefield Primary School, said the new garden surface had turned the school's outdoor space into an area where curiosity, creativity and learning flourish.

The schemes behind the commitments

The gardens are linked to two Queen's projects on which GRAHAM is the contractor.

Weavers' Hall, on Dublin Road, is a 16-storey, 459-bedroom purpose built managed student accommodation scheme built to the Passivhaus standard. When it announced the start of work, GRAHAM described the scheme as a £46m development and Belfast's first Passivhaus-certified student accommodation. In its topping-out release, the company said the 459 ensuite rooms include 98 studios.

In a separate release, GRAHAM said the building was completed and handed over on 11 September 2026, just over two years on site, having moved from Stage 0 in May 2023 to breaking ground in August 2024. The gardens release describes Weavers' Hall as an ongoing project.

GRAHAM said the building achieved an average airtightness of 0.49 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals across positive and negative pressure tests, against the Passivhaus requirement of 0.6. It is fully electric with no fossil fuels and uses air source heat pumps for heating and hot water. The company describes it as the largest Passivhaus student scheme on the island of Ireland. The job was procured under the Major Works Framework managed by Pagabo.

The second scheme is iREACH Health, which GRAHAM said will become a hub for health innovation and research in Northern Ireland. According to the Health and Social Care (HSC) Research and Development Division, Queen's awarded Graham a £39m construction contract to build two buildings beside Belfast City Hospital as part of the planned 8,500 sq m facility.

The HSC Research and Development Division describes iREACH Health as a £64m integrated clinical research innovation centre led by Queen's and developed with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the division itself. It is funded by the Northern Ireland Executive and UK Government through the Belfast Region City Deal, and part funded by Queen's. Over its lifetime the project is estimated to create more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and over £750m in additional GDP for the region, the division said.

Social value

Queen's said the gardens reflect the ambitions set out in its Civic University Agreement, including a belief that educational spaces should be accessible and empowering for all.

Aileen Cummins, head of social impact and civic responsibility at Queen's, said completion of the work at both schools represented a positive milestone and the university looked forward to seeing pupils benefit.

Suzanne Stevenson, social impact manager (building) at Graham Construction, said the gardens provided spaces where children can learn, play and connect with nature, "while demonstrating how major construction projects can deliver meaningful benefits beyond the bricks and mortar."

GRAHAM operates from 19 offices across the UK and Ireland, with activities covering construction, civil engineering, interior fit-out, facilities management and investments.