Powerscourt penthouse offices to let

A large office suite available to let on the top floor of Powerscourt House in Co Wicklow has views over its famous gardens.  JACK FAGANreports

DUBLIN has more than a fair share of impressive penthouse office suites but for companies looking for a world class setting, it will be hard to beat The Penthouse Suite at Powerscourt outside Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, which has just become available for letting.

Agents HT Meagher O’Reilly are handling enquiries about the top floor of Ireland’s most famous country house, which offers stunning views over a garden as great as any in Europe with the pointed Sugarloaf mountain providing a dramatic backdrop.

The Slazenger family created what is high quality office accommodation when they rebuilt the house after it was badly damaged by fire in 1974.

The 341sq m (3,670sq ft) of offices are primarily designed as a prestigous headquarters for a company going places.

The offices, largely open plan, have two bright and elegant suites at either end of the building which would be ideal as a conference or boardroom and a chief executive’s office.

The offices have a private lobby serviced by its own passenger lift. The suites come with air conditioning, category 6 voice and data cabling and power as well a private kitchen, toilets and shower facilities.

One of the attractions of moving offices to Powerscourt, apart from the superb setting, is the convenience of an Avoca restaurant and shops on the ground floor and the availability of a stunning ballroom for special occasions or promotions.

There is also the Ritz-Carlton hotel close by on the estate as well as two championship golf courses with a convenient clubhouse.

The offices have been occupied for four years by the sales and marketing divisions of the business critical information technology company, Redstone Technology.

Managing director Declan Van Esbeck said they wanted a locations that was a suitable showcase for a new world class demonstration centre and “an environment that would motivate and energise our staff”. The move to Powerscourt exceeded their expectations and both their turnover and profitability trebled during their four years there.

It was with great regret they decided to leave but at that stage they had to find offices to accommodate a much larger workforce.

How Slazenger family developed historic Irish estate

‘I HAVE the best job in the country” says Sarah Slazenger who manages the 1,000-acre Powerscourt Estate outside Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. “How could you not enjoy working in this setting with like-minded people who are as passionate about the place as I am . . . that makes a huge difference.”

Sarah took overall responsibility for the Co Wicklow estate and its world famous gardens just over a year ago when her father Michael was killed, along with a passenger, when his single-engine two-seater Falco aircraft crashed as it attempted to land at Powers-court. She is still mourning the loss of her father. “It was absolutely devastating, absolutely devestating,” she says.

The majestic estate was always part of Sarah’s life and for years she worked alongside her father helping to enhance Powerscourt’s appeal with the intention of making it self-financing. This has taken many years to achieve.

Much of the required revenue now comes from the 250,000 people who visit the gardens each year, almost as many as visit the restored house where Avoca Handweavers operates a restaurant and shops. The house and gardens have also become a popular destination for weddings, in part because of the unique double height ballroom in the restored house.

Two top class golf courses developed on the estate by the Slazengers continue to attract consistently high support in contrast with some of the leading courses in the country, which have been seriously hit by the economic crisis. The golf club has its full quota of 900 members. Around the same number of supporters buy annual tickets for access to the gardens and the waterfall.

Powerscourt’s appeal has also been strengthened by the opening of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the grounds – the group’s only hotel in this country.

Though most of the extensive grounds have been given over to the two golf courses, a further 150 acres are still farmed.

Powerscourt has been a formidable business challenge for the Slazengers since Sarah’s grandparents, Ralph and Gwendoline, moved there in 1961 after selling their Slazenger sports goods company to Dunlop. They set about restoring the house and the near derelict gardens with the intention of opening the grounds to the public. Disaster struck in November, 1974, when the house was almost completely destroyed by fire. The east wing was saved but the fire destroyed priceless paintings, furniture and ornaments collected over many generations.

For most of the 1990s, Dr Michael Slazenger, who was a consultant anaesthetist, was involved in a process of regeneration with the re-roofing of the house and the restoration of the windows as they were before the fire.

The initial funding of over €5 million came with Wicklow County Council’s blessing from the sale of a field near Enniskerry for the Eagle Valley housing development.

Around 400 people are now employed on the estate, 70 of them directly at Powerscourt House, gardens and golf courses. Sarah Slazenger says that because of Powercourt’s universal appeal, ideal location near Dublin, its good reputation and strong brand they were in a good position to ride out the recession.

Four of the late Michael’s siblings are members of the board of directors and “they are very much in touch with everything going on here”, says Sarah. They hadabsolutely no interest in selling the estate as long as the place was sustainable in the long term.

“We are at a stage where we have done fairly significant development. We are now in changed economic times and want to look and see what would be an appropriate way to develop the business going forward.” The estate is about to appoint a new marketing and communications manager specialising in digital marketing.

“Digital marketing and social media are on the up and we feel that if our business is going to embrace modern technology we need people on our staff that are up to speed with that and we are going to push the business forward from that angle,” Sarah promises.