Boland's Mill to be developed as office, hotel complex

Three 12 to 16-storey office buildings, a boutique hotel and a restaurant to be run by celebrity chef Gary Rhodes are planned for a key site in Dublin's south docklands. Jack Fagan reports

One of the key sites in Dublin's south docklands, the former Boland's Mill at Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 4, is to be redeveloped as a major office and hotel complex at a cost of over €150 million. When completed, it is likely to be one of the most distinctive and important new developments in the fast changing south docklands.

A development company headed by Sean Kelly of Benton Properties is finalising a planning application for three new office buildings ranging in height from 12 to 16 storeys - the tallest matching the height of the Millennium Tower apartment block at Charlotte Quay, on the opposite side of Ringsend Road.

Boland's Mill, a cut-stone grain store dating from the 1830s, was sold by the food group IAWS to Mr Kelly 18 months ago for €42 million.

He recently completed a large own-door office and retail scheme at the junction of Mary's Abbey and Capel Street and previously handled the redevelopment of the former Adelaide Hospital, now one of the highest value apartment schemes in the inner city.

Enda Moore of agent Hooke & MacDonald Commercial, who is letting agent for Boland's Mill Wharf, says he believes it will set a new benchmark for offices in the city in terms of design, quality and location. It is just a few minutes' walk from Grand Canal Dock Dart station.

The redevelopment is likely to prove even more challenging than the Adelaide because of its primary position in the Grand Canal Harbour area. Eoin O'Morain of architects Scott Tallon Walker says that one of their objectives will be to enhance the three existing protected structures and to achieve maximum accessibility to both the retained buildings and the waterfront.

Top conservation architect David Slattery has been retained to advise on the listed buildings which were used up to recent years as grain stores. The promoters estimate that the cost of restoring and refurbishing the cut-stone buildings - one of them has around 250 wooden windows - is likely to run to about €3,000 per sq m (€279 per sq ft) as against a cost of €2,000 per sq m (€186 per sq m) for new build.

The existing six-storey building on Ringsend Road is to accommodate a four-star, 53-bedroom boutique hotel along with a health spa and brasserie. The building will also have a 150-seater restaurant at ground floor level to cater for visitors, as well as about 2,000 people who are likely to be working on the site. The restaurant, to be known as D4, will be run by celebrity chef Gary Rhodes, who has also opened a restaurant in Mr Kelly's newly-completed development off Capel Street.

Several Irish, UK and international hotel chains have already expressed interest in operating the hotel, which stands to benefit from the large number of companies moving into the Grand Canal docks area. The hotel opening will coincide with the closure of at least two of the Jurys Doyle hotels in nearby Ballsbridge.

Two other listed buildings on the Boland's site, a multi-storey warehouse fronting on to Grand Canal Dock, and numbers 33 and 34 Barrow Street, are also to be redeveloped as offices, bringing the gross development to 40,647sq m (437,524sq ft). The tall concrete silo pits that dominate much of the site were built in the 1950s and will be demolished. The two listed buildings being turned into offices will be for sale or to let.

The two main new buildings will stand 12 and 16-storeys high and will face on to an impressive public plaza that will extend from Barrow Street onto Grand Canal Dock. The taller block will have a net floor area of 15,488sq m (166,711sq ft) while the other will have 7,442sq m (80,104sq ft). They are likely to be used as corporate headquarters and will be interlinked by a glazed central core featuring 10 lifts, each capable of carrying 21 people as well as a stairwell.

The two blocks will be capable of being operated as a single headquarters or as two separate entities. Floor sizes generally will range from 887 to 1,206sq m (9,548-12,981sq ft).

The third new office block planned for the site will be 14 storeys high and will bring the new floor areas up to 34,268sq m (368,857sq ft). While the three new buildings will have air conditioning, windows will be capable of being opened to allow natural ventilation. A further 1,608sq m (17,308sq ft) office building on the north-east corner of the site will cater for small to medium-sized occupiers.