Clerys Quarter
Clerys is a mixed-use development integrating retail, commercial offices, restaurants and a rooftop hospitality venue overlooking Dublin city centre.
Located on O'Connell Street within the emerging Clerys Quarter precinct, the project combines the careful restoration of a protected neoclassical building with the insertion of contemporary interventions that serve both heritage conservation and contemporary urban life.
The original building, constructed in 1853 and rebuilt in 1921 following destruction during the 1916 Rising, is distinguished by its Portland stone and bronze façade, detailed carvings and the iconic Clerys clock. Modelled on Selfridges in London, the structure became synonymous with mid-twentieth-century Dublin, housing tearooms, a ballroom and fashion floors that defined the social life of the city. The building's historical and cultural significance demanded a design approach grounded in sympathy, technical precision and respect for the protected fabric.
The architectural strategy centres on three principal moves: the creation of a connecting public mall running from O'Connell Street through the building, the formation of Earl Place (a new restaurant street to the rear) and the introduction of a central lightwell that illuminates and visually connects the varied uses. Structural innovation was key to the project's success. A series of structural pins stabilises the deteriorating external façades while enabling clear-span commercial floors above. New vertical circulation cores, including a cylindrical atrium, animate the interior, linking ground-level retail to upper office floors and the rooftop venue.
Conservation work included the sympathetic repair of glazing, column heads and ceiling details, the restoration of cast ironwork and shopfronts, and the removal of later additions to reveal original metalwork and awnings. The restored Portland stone façade, renewed bronze glazing and rejuvenated ground-floor frontages return dignity and clarity to the street elevation.
The development accommodates H&M and Decathlon at lower levels, three floors of commercial office space and a rooftop venue with public viewing deck offering panoramic views across O'Connell Street, the GPO and the city. The interconnection of old and new, the careful segregation and integration of uses, and the reanimation of historic routes around the site represent a thoughtful urban intervention that enhances public realm, respects heritage and supports the long-term vitality of Dublin's principal thoroughfare.
