City Quay Arts Building

The City Quay Arts site is one of the most significant brownfield sites in Dublin City center and presents an exceptional opportunity to deliver a high-density development in the city’s central core. This highly visible site on the south side of Matt Talbot bridge marks one of the most important arrival points into the city center and justifies a landmark building in response to its unique setting and access to public transportation. The proposed building extends to 24 floors above ground floor over 2 basement levels. The building provides office accommodation and reincarnates the City Arts Centre which was located on this site up to the 1980’s. The main entrance to the building, located in the north east corner of the site, is set back from the site boundary to form a mini plaza and opens into a light-filled , double height lobby, shared by the Arts Centre and Office Users.

The new Arts Centre will re-establish the historic use of the site and will deliver a creative core at the entrance to the building, to be shared and experienced by all building users. The 1,400 m2 (15,050 sq.ft.) Arts Centre will occupy three floors at the front of the building, at lower ground, ground and first floor levels. A triple height volume on the City Quay façade links these three floors and presents a highly visible and welcoming frontage which will encourage the public to visit this important new cultural facility. The original historic neon sign has been salvaged and will be a key feature of the reincarnated City Arts Center. The building’s office users will pass through the Arts Centre en-route to the upper floors where they can pause to view exhibits or use the space for casual meetings and coffee breaks. The office accommodation begins at first floor level and extends to the top floor of the building providing a total of 22,587 m2 (243,125 sq.ft.)net office.

The massing of the building steps as the building rises from a six-storey shoulder height fronting the quays to the twenty-four storey tower. A series of stepped back terraces at 7th, 9th and 11th floors transition the form of the building from the base to the tower. The shape and form of the tower has evolved in response to its alignment with the axis of Gardiner Street. The slender diamond plan shape ensures that the building form is elegant and slender when viewed from Gardiner Street, where it’s form is further accentuated by the fluted profile of it’s prow.
The roof profile of the tower is angled towards Gardiner Street creating a distinctive and unique form on the City’s skyline and contributing to the character of the grouping of nearby buildings including Liberty Hall, Busaras and The Custom House.