Central Plaza
Central Plaza revives the former Central Bank on Dame Street; restoring the tower's unique structure while transforming the roof and plaza to energise the buildings with new life and activity.
Completed in the late 1970’s the tower building was in urgent need of repair. Meticulous care was taken to find bespoke solutions to restore and upgrade the existing tower structure and facade, while respecting the architectural quality of the original building. The goal was to preserve the building for future generations with almost invisible interventions.
At plaza level, modern railings which once divided the public from the entrance stairs were removed and replaced with shops and restaurants. The soffit of the tower’s cantilever has been clad with bronze finished panels and delicate spot lights which soften this fifth elevation. A new stair directs visitors to the entrance of the rooftop hospitality space while separating them from the office workers who inhabit the central floor plates of the building. To successfully overlap the various new uses of the building innovative solutions were required to intensify the use of the existing stair cores without compromising the original office footprint. Each new structural intervention in the existing cores had to be carefully modelled to ensure the integrity of the original structure was retained.
Awards:
WAF [World Architecture Festival] Awards 2023
Shortlisted Retrofit Category
WAN [World Architecture News] Awards
Bronze Publicly Accessible Buildings
Irish Construction Excellence Awards
Project of the Year
Building of the Year Awards 2023
Large Office Project of the Year
Building of the Year Awards 2023
Building Refurbishment Project of the Year
The roofscape of the former Central Bank presented the most exciting opportunity for the design team to reimagine what was a plant space, as a new rooftop event space with 360 degree views of the city.
A steel and glass matrix spans over the venue allowing unimpeded views from the internal space over the city. This lightweight and fully transparent space forms a focal point to the skyline.
The tower in Central Plaza was designed with lofty ambitions to provide breathing space in the centre of the city, bringing with it an uncompromising language of modern architecture. The open squares and the unsupervised areas that lay under the building clashed with the requirements of a modern financial institution that relied on security and privacy which led to the installation of railings and harsh security lighting in the 1990’s.
Central Plaza transforms the space at street level from a closed and secure space to an open and welcoming one.
The buildings now embrace the city and the space is alive with people and potential. Streets are remade and entertainment, dining and places to meet pour light and people onto the plaza. The rooftop which was once a rusting plant room is now a light and publicly accessible space. Dame plaza has been renamed as Central Plaza. A new generation of young Dubliners occupy these streets and a building once controversial has matured to represent how old and special buildings deserve a second chance at life.
