Acquired by Hines in 2017, in partnership with the Peterson Group in Hong Kong, Central Plaza is a dramatic new meeting point where Dublin’s north and south city centres converge.

Made up of a cluster of five upgraded buildings, classical and contemporary architecture unite around a stunning two-tier town square to create a dynamic new destination for modern workforces, shoppers, and diners. Designed by Henry J. Lyons, the redevelopment will bring more than 166,349square feet of retail, office, and restaurants to Dublin’s City Centre, including an iconic new rooftop bar and restaurant which will provide patrons with unrivalled 360-degree views of the city extending as far as Phoenix Park, Howth Head and the Wicklow Mountains.

Central Plaza, the former Central Bank Headquarters on Dame St. was originally 100 per cent office space. The property has undergone an extensive refurbishment and now the mix in the newly refurbished complex comprises offices (60 per cent), food and beverage (25 per cent) and retail (15per cent).

The original Central Bank building was designed by architect Sam Stephenson and construction was completed in latter part of 1978. The Central Bank building design and construction methods displayed pioneering technical innovation. The structural system is a highly sophisticated piece of engineering, which is designed to provide a column free plaza and office floorplates providing optimum flexibility for tenant fit-out.

The twin reinforced concrete cores were constructed using an innovative slip-form technique which involved mechanically raised shuttering. Seven floors are suspended from the cantilevered steel roof structure, which is supported on the service cores.

There are sixty-four trusses, and twelve hanger trusses on each floor, with precast concrete panels spanning between them. Each floor is hung from the roof structure by means of paired high tensile steel hangers, or Macalloy bars, which are visible externally. As part of its restoration, all the Macalloy bars and the 12 steel super nodes which transfer the forces from the vertical bars to the diagonal bars at roof level were fully investigated, tested, and restored.

Hines has now reached completion in construction on the building, bringing the iconic landmark building to Grade A standard with LEED Gold, environmental certification.

A large focus for Hines was to stay true to Stephenson’s original architectural vision for the building and to match that up with the Hines vision of creating the new modern world-class mixed-use development, bringing it to the 21st century.

Central Plaza’s crowning glory is its spectacular 15,500 sq ft rooftop venue and visitor viewing experience. Soaring ten-storeys above the city, this will be a magical place to socialise amid awe-inspiring vistas of Dublin.

The roof was originally an attic space used for storage and mechanical equipment. Using the exact same profile of the original copper roof, Hines completely opened this space up. The roof is now fully double-glazed with a two-level restaurant and an intermediate level of external area where you can walk right around the building and enjoy 360-degree views of Dublin city and beyond. Double glazed, fritted glass was used to prevent glare and to maintain comfortable temperatures within the rooftop space.

Originally Central Plaza had over 100 car parking spaces in the basement. To energise the plaza, the ground floor slab was removed, and some of the basement space was then turned into a retail and food and beverage space. The basement also contains over 100 bicycle parking spaces and associated chains as well as shower facilities.

Modern shoppers will find plenty to excite within Central Plaza’s 35,000 sq ft retail space and 16,000 sq ft of food & beverage. The iconic property also features outdoor dining and terraces.

Irish Sculptor, Éamonn O’ Doherty’s Crann an Óir (Tree ofGold) was commissioned by the Central Bank in 1991. Hines has now completely refurbished the sculpture, reinstated it to the plaza grounds, and unveiled it back to Dublin City, September, 2022 marking the completion of works at the new work and hospitality venue, Central Plaza.

This project represents one of the largest redevelopment projects that Dublin City has ever seen, and this has been all about applying new thinking and modern design to redefine and sustain this building to ensure it remains both relevant and valued well into the future. This has been a bold and visionary redesign of the building made possible by Hines.

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