Ring of homes is gem of Ringsend

Dublin 4: from €675,000Apartments in the former gasholder at Ringsend have been beautifully designed and are unique, writes Property Editor Orna Mulcahy

Show units go on view for the first time this weekend at Dublin's most remarkable apartment scheme, the nine-storey cylindrical block built inside the rust red metal struts of the Victorian gasholder at Ringsend in Dublin 4.

Fifty two-bedroom apartments go on sale today priced between €675,000 and just over €1 million with underground parking costing an additional €40,000 per space. Hooke & MacDonald are the agents for the development with David Cantwell handling sales.

Now called the Alliance Building, the protected gasholder is all that remains of the 19th century gas works bought by developer Liam Carroll from Bord Gáis in 1996 for a then record price of £8 million.

The 7.8 acre site, which runs between Barrow Street and South Lotts Road, has 600 apartments - in a series of new glass fronted buildings while the entire scheme has been dubbed Googleland because the American company has its headquarters there.

The Alliance Building has a further 200 apartments in the nine storey block which is built around a central courtyard over a car park that spirals seven storeys underground. Designed by O'Mahony Pike Architects, the building is a knockout with is centre courtyard looking up past tiers and tiers of yellow timber front doors to a circle of sky. There are lifts and staircases on either side of the courtyard which is centred on a tree that arrived on site with bare branches and is now flourishing. The original structure, made in London in 1885 by S. Cutler & Sons, has been fully restored and repainted. The block inside has been clad with a structurally bonded glass façade system to achieve reflections of both the gasholder frame and the sky.

All the apartments are 78sq m (840sq ft) and they have the same layout which makes it easy to concentrate on the main decisions - how high can you afford to go and which view you prefer: there's Lansdowne Road and the Dublin Mountains on one side, the city's rooftops over there, Sandymount Strand and the Pigeon House around the curve. Prices rise steeply with each floor with those on the ground floor starting at €675,000; units on the first floor starting at €725,000; third floor units starting at €775,000 and seventh floor units starting at €975,000.

All the apartments have the same designg layout and each is dual aspect with the principal bedroom and the living space on the outer perimeter, with views over the city. A second bedroom as well as the entrance hall and storage-area, are located at the inner perimeter looking into the courtyard, while the kitchen and two bathrooms are centrally located in the apartment. There are some clever touches like the wall-to-wall mirrors in the kitchen which makes the space seem bigger and brighter, and another wall of mirrors just inside the front door.

There is a good sized airing cupboard and a utility space that will take a washer dryer. The central heating boiler is hidden away in a cupboard just outside the front door.

On show today and this weekend, there are sure to be queues forming for these unique apartments.