Habitat's new 'store on Suffolk Street opens

Retail: Habitat is to open the doors of its new store at the former Bank of Ireland beside Avoca Handweavers on Suffolk Street, Dublin 2 by Friday.

Its former premises at 7 St Stephen's Green will be occupied by UK fashion stores Top Shop and Top Man, owned by UK fashion chain Arcadia.

Habitat Ireland's owner and managing director Malcolm Brighton describes the €2.5 million fit- out of the store as "brass meets glass".The building, which has entrances on Suffolk Street and College Green, is composed of two different structures, a large 19th century double height banking hall fronting onto College Green and a 1960s building that has been enlarged.

"It will be a meeting of old and new. The modern half will be architectural and quite urban, a big open space. The old part which has a dome will have all the decorative items, the vases and home furnishings and accessories. We will be retaining the original features of banking hall, and marrying it with a raw urban feel in the new part"

There will also be a Relax Café on the mezzanine level overlooking College Green, a restaurant and patisserie. Vintage furniture retailer 20th Century Design will have a concession and customers will be able to have one-off pieces made by Irish furniture designer Charles O'Toole.

Habitat is paying a rent of around €1.2 million for the old bank building which has three levels and a total floor area of 3,344sq m (35,999sq ft).

The owners of the store, White Glory, a consortium led by the owners of Powerscourt Townhouse paid around €22 million for the building .

It is believed that a rent rise - from €698,000 to €1.5 million - was one of the reasons behind the move from St Stephen's Green store .

The opening of the store will be a further boost to Suffolk Street which has undergone a renaissance in recent years. More consumers have flocked to the street following the conversion of the Church of Ireland into the tourist information office and the opening of Avoca Handweavers. The former AA headquarters was bought by the owners of a business park at Ballymount in west Dublin for €8 million. to be converted into 3.716sq m (4,000 sq ft) of retail space.