The concluding chapter of Dublin’s historic Clancy Barracks transformation — 246 high-specification apartments delivered in 6 months across Lean Touch Solutions’ largest and most complex residential lean construction engagement.
Last Planner® System
Takt Planning
Value Stream Mapping
Offsite Prefabrication
Just-In-Time Delivery
Clancy Quay is one of Dublin's most significant urban regeneration projects — the transformation of the former Clancy Barracks at Islandbridge, Dublin 8 into a vibrant, high-quality residential community. Phase III represented the final, most complex chapter of that transformation: designing, constructing, and fitting out 246 premium apartments to the standard that the project's reputation demanded. The pressure on Phase III was not just commercial — it was the culmination of a decade-long vision for one of Dublin's most historic sites. Lean Touch Solutions was brought in to ensure that vision was delivered at pace, at standard, and without compromise.
| Project Value | Project Duration | Teams Collaborated with | Accommodation Bedrooms supplied | Partners Trained & Certified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| € 56M | 6 Months | 2 | 246 | 60 |
| Project Value | € 56M |
|---|---|
| Duration | 6 Months |
| Teams Collaborated with | 2 |
| Accommodation Bedrooms Supplied | 246 |
| Partners Trained & Certified | 60 |
The Clancy Quay Residential Development Phase III marked the final chapter in the transformation of Dublin’s historic Clancy Barracks site at Islandbridge, Dublin 8. With a project value of €56 million, this third and final phase was the most complex and most significant of the three — involving the design, construction, and complete fit-out of 246 high-specification apartments to the premium standard that Clancy Quay has become renowned for in the Dublin residential market.
What makes this project stand out in Lean Touch Solutions’ portfolio is not just its scale — €56M and 246 apartments is the largest residential engagement we have delivered — but the combination of its compressed 6-month delivery timeline and its uncompromising premium quality requirement. These two demands — pace and quality — are in constant tension on a residential fit-out. Lean construction, and specifically Takt Planning, just-in-time material delivery, and off-site prefabrication, are the tools that resolve that tension.
Lean Touch Solutions was engaged to implement a comprehensive lean construction programme across the entire Phase III delivery — from design finalisation and shell works through to interior detailing and final handover. Our objective was clear: deliver 246 premium apartments on time and at uncompromising quality. Sixty key partners were trained and certified in lean construction methods, and 22 specialist trade teams were coordinated through the Last Planner® System — making this the most trade-intensive residential lean programme we have delivered.
The final chapter imperative: Phase III carried the full weight of the Clancy Quay brand promise. The apartments being delivered were not just units — they were the finishing statement of a regeneration project that had transformed one of Dublin’s most significant historic sites. Every finish, every fitting, every handover had to reflect that standard. This is why lean construction — with its quality-embedded delivery approach and systematic waste elimination — was the right and only delivery model.
The final phase of Dublin's historic Clancy Barracks regeneration — completing a landmark urban transformation that has redefined Dublin 8 as a premium residential destination.
High-specification fit-out quality maintained across all 246 apartments — quality embedded into the takt workflow, not inspected at the end.
Clancy Quay’s development unfolded across three phases, each building on the last to create the complete urban village that now stands at Islandbridge. Phase III was the most ambitious — the largest number of units, the tightest timeline, and the highest specification of any phase in the programme.
Initial residential units and community infrastructure — establishing the Clancy Quay standard
Continued residential development — building out the community and refining delivery processes
246 premium apartments in 6 months — the most complex and highest-value phase of the entire programme
Clancy Quay is one of Dublin's most recognised premium residential addresses. Phase III apartments command premium prices in one of Dublin's most competitive residential markets. This meant that the lean construction programme had to achieve pace without the compromises that speed typically implies on residential fit-out — no shortcuts on finishes, no accepted defects, no "we'll snag that later" approach.
Lean Touch Solutions' approach embedded quality assurance into the workflow from the first day of fit-out — not as a separate inspection process at the end, but as an integral component of each trade's daily work planning commitment. This is one of lean construction's most powerful qualities in premium residential: when quality is planned for, not inspected for, the result is a finish that reflects the project's ambition rather than the construction schedule's pressure.
Our Lean Programme –
Lean Touch Solutions designed and delivered a comprehensive lean construction programme for Phase III — adapted to the unique demands of premium residential fit-out at scale and pace. Our programme was built on three foundational objectives: deliver on schedule, maintain premium quality throughout, and coordinate 22 specialist trade teams with the precision that a 6-month, 246-apartment programme demands.
Twenty-two distinct specialist teams — from structural and MEP trades through to premium fit-out, joinery, landscaping, and specialist M&E — coordinated through the Last Planner® System's collaborative weekly work planning. This is the highest trade count in any residential project Lean Touch Solutions has delivered.
The operational backbone of the expansion — collaborative weekly work planning across all 10 teams, with structured look-ahead scheduling and constraint removal specifically designed to protect live operations from construction interference.
Current-state and future-state mapping of critical construction and commissioning workflows — identifying and eliminating non-value-adding activities, particularly at the boundaries between live operations and new construction.
Comprehensive 6S site organisation across all construction and new-facility zones — creating clean, safe, well-organised workspaces that minimised contamination risks to adjacent live GMP areas throughout the 24-month programme.
Targeted rapid-improvement workshops at identified bottlenecks — particularly around interface-intensive activities such as utility connections, handover from construction to commissioning teams, and system integration sequences.
Interface processes between construction and live operations mapped in detail — from utility outage procedures to commissioning handover protocols — ensuring every cross-boundary activity had a defined, optimised, and agreed process.
Cultural transformation across all 10 teams and 300 certified partners — building the five lean behaviours (Trust, Accountability, Transparency, Respect, Continuous Improvement) that underpinned the collaborative planning needed for live-site delivery.
On a 246-apartment fit-out with 22 specialist trade teams and a 6-month delivery window, Takt Planning is the most powerful lean tool available. Takt establishes a rhythmic beat for the entire fit-out programme — each trade team moves through apartments in a defined, predictable sequence, completing their scope in a defined time window before moving to the next unit while the next trade enters behind them.
This rhythmic flow eliminates the most common waste in residential fit-out: waiting. When plasterers finish one apartment and move to the next, tilers are ready to follow immediately. When tilers move on, decorators follow. The entire 22-team sequence flows through the 246 apartments like a production line — with each team's work rate calibrated to match the system's pace. The result is the maximum possible productivity from every trade, with no idle time, no queue, and no interference between teams.
On a conventional residential fit-out, high-value premium finishes — natural stone tiles, bespoke joinery, imported sanitaryware, specialist lighting — are delivered to site on order cycles that bear little relationship to when they will actually be installed. The result is weeks of on-site storage, increased damage risk, and the compounding costs of replacement and rework that every residential contractor knows well.
Lean Touch Solutions' just-in-time material delivery programme pulled all premium fit-out materials directly against the takt sequence — materials arrived at the apartments ready to receive them, not in the site compound waiting for those apartments to be ready. This eliminated storage waste, reduced damage risk to near-zero, and ensured that the Clancy Quay premium finish standard was protected from procurement through to final handover.
Implementation Approach –
From the outset, Lean Touch Solutions co-developed the Phase III lean construction strategy with the client, the main contractor, design and engineering teams, and all 22 trade partner leads. The strategy’s twin pillars were non-negotiable: 6-month delivery and premium-specification handover. Every lean tool and technique was selected and adapted to serve both simultaneously.
Our Holistic Lean Delivery model ensured that lean thinking permeated every aspect of the project — from design for buildability decisions through procurement and prefabrication planning, to daily trade sequencing and embedded quality assurance. Lean was not a layer applied over a conventional construction process. It was the process.
Securing buy-in across 22 teams: With 22 specialist trade teams involved in Phase III, getting authentic lean buy-in — not just compliance — was a significant early priority. Lean Touch Solutions invested substantial time at programme launch in aligning all trade partners to the shared pace, the shared quality standard, and the shared planning commitment that the Last Planner® System requires. Without that buy-in, the takt sequence cannot function. With it, it becomes the delivery mechanism that makes the impossible possible.
Lean Touch Solutions engaged with the design and engineering teams before construction began — reviewing buildability, optimising apartment unit layouts for efficient trade sequencing, and designing the takt production system that would govern the entire fit-out programme. Takt time calculated based on 246 units, 22 trade teams, and the 6-month delivery window — establishing the project's operational heartbeat before the first trade entered the building.
60 key personnel trained and certified in lean construction methodology before mobilisation — trade team leads, project managers, site supervisors, and quality controllers all fluent in the Last Planner® System, takt discipline, and just-in-time protocols before programme launch. Last Planner® System activated with phase pull plan built backwards from the 6-month handover date.
Takt planning sequence launched — all 22 trade teams entering the apartment-by-apartment production wave in the planned sequence, with weekly work planning meetings maintaining the takt rhythm and identifying constraints before they disrupted the flow. Just-in-time procurement schedules activated for all premium finish materials, pulling deliveries against the confirmed takt sequence rather than estimated installation dates.
VSM sessions conducted on critical fit-out workflows — particularly around kitchen module installation, bathroom pod connection, and the specialist joinery and decorating trades where schedule variability was highest. Future-state designs compressed trade cycle times without reducing quality standards. Ongoing PPC measurement and weekly constraint review maintained programme momentum across the 6-month delivery window.
Quality assurance embedded into each trade's daily work planning commitment — not as end-of-programme snagging but as an integral part of the takt sequence. Each apartment handed from one trade to the next only when the quality standard was confirmed, preventing the punch-list accumulation that typically extends residential project delivery by weeks. All 246 apartments handed over to the premium Clancy Quay standard on schedule.
Outcomes & Results –
Clancy Quay Phase III stands as Lean Touch Solutions’ most complex residential lean construction delivery — and proof that lean principles can deliver at the highest scale and highest quality standard in the residential sector.
High-specification apartments delivered on time and to premium standard
Largest residential lean construction programme in our portfolio
Specialist trade teams coordinated through Takt Planning and Last Planner® System
Partners trained and certified in lean construction before programme launch
Lean for Premium Residential Construction –
The premium residential sector faces a unique construction challenge that is invisible to most project managers until they experience it firsthand: the conflict between speed and quality on multi-unit fit-out at scale. Drive trades faster without lean planning, and quality degrades. Prioritise quality without lean sequencing, and deadlines are missed. The conventional approach to resolving this tension — adding more supervision, more snagging inspections, and more contingency — adds cost without reliably delivering either the pace or the quality required.
Lean construction — specifically Takt Planning, just-in-time delivery, and embedded quality assurance — resolves this conflict at its root. Takt creates the pace. JIT protects the quality of materials. Embedded quality assurance ensures the finish standard is built in, not inspected in. The result at Clancy Quay Phase III was 246 premium apartments on schedule, to standard, without the cost and delay of end-programme snagging that characterises conventional residential delivery.
Lean Touch Solutions brings the same LCI-registered lean construction expertise to premium residential, build-to-rent, and mixed-use developments that we bring to pharmaceutical and technology construction. If you are developing premium apartments or residential schemes in Dublin or across Ireland, talk to our team about how lean construction can deliver your project at the pace and quality your development demands.
Lean construction delivers pace without compromising quality. Let us show you how takt planning and JIT delivery work for your residential programme.
From 246-apartment urban regeneration to fast-track student accommodation — lean construction that delivers residential projects at speed, at scale, and at the quality standard your development demands.
Takt Planning is the most powerful lean tool for large-scale residential fit-out. By establishing a rhythmic, apartment-by-apartment production sequence for all 22 trade teams, takt planning transforms a chaotic multi-trade fit-out into a predictable production system that maximises the efficiency of every trade and minimises interference between them.
Premium residential construction is uniquely vulnerable to the costs of conventional material delivery — damage, storage charges, and the schedule disruption caused by materials arriving when trades are not ready for them. Just-in-time material delivery eliminates all three by pulling deliveries against the confirmed installation sequence rather than estimated dates.
At Clancy Quay Phase III, just-in-time delivery protected the premium specification of every apartment’s finishes — from natural stone tiles to bespoke joinery — by eliminating the on-site storage time that exposes high-value materials to damage and contamination on a busy construction site. The result was a finish standard that reflected the Clancy Quay brand promise rather than the realities of a 6-month construction schedule.
Urban regeneration projects like Clancy Quay carry a unique burden: they must deliver not just the physical development but the fulfilment of a civic promise. The communities, local authorities, and investors who have supported a regeneration vision over years or decades are watching the final phases with particular scrutiny.
Lean construction’s embedded quality assurance approach is ideally suited to this context — because it treats quality as a planning requirement, not a post-construction inspection. When quality is built into the takt sequence, when every trade’s daily commitment includes the quality standard as a completion criterion, the resulting finish reflects the ambition of the regeneration vision rather than the shortcut of the construction schedule.
Lean Touch Solutions is based in Naas, Co. Kildare — well positioned to serve premium residential, build-to-rent, student accommodation, and mixed-use development projects across Dublin, Leinster, and the rest of Ireland. Our residential portfolio — Clancy Quay Phase III, Suite Grangegorman, and Quintain — demonstrates lean construction at every scale and quality level in the residential sector.
We are an LCI-registered lean construction trainer, and our practitioners bring the same depth and rigour to residential delivery that we bring to €3Bn semiconductor installations. Contact our team to discuss how lean construction can deliver your next residential development.
