Our project for Dublin Castle, working with National Historic Properties and OPW, will commence construction in 2027. This is a fascinating site with over a millennium of history, with extant Viking fortifications overlaid with the constructed strata of different eras. The seat of English, and later British, power in Ireland for over 700 years, it was also the site of the ceremonial handover between the British Administration and newly established Irish state in 1922 after the War of Independence. Dublin Castle today has an apparently Georgian character, which reflects a major period of development during the 18th century. Despite the Georgian identity, the layout, and substantial parts of the fabric of the current Castle actually dates from major developments that stretch back centuries.

Our project in the South–East Corner of the Upper Castle Yard intervenes within the elevation of the ground floor and re–works elements of the plan to open up a closed arcade to provide access and visual permeability to a south–facing public terrace. The spaces inside provide new reception areas for visitors, with amenities and ticketing, as well as providing access to key tours within the complex such as the Record Tower, Chapel Royal and State Apartments. The reworking of the plan also allows the visitor hub to provide a dual use by providing ancillary space and amenities when state and public functions are held at the Castle.

It’s also a project about working with complexity and ambiguity. What may not be immediately apparent to many visitors is that a substantial part of the Upper Yard complex was rebuilt in the mid–1960s after a fire. The exterior is built as an apparent facsimile of the original Georgian facades, using twentieth century materials and the structure of these parts is in–situ reinforced concrete with ribbed floor slabs typical of the mid–60s. In working within this part of the site, our proposals expose and reveal this layer of the history of the site within the interior. Using two Irish limestones (one red and one grey), and structural interventions in steel, it is our privilege to add another layer of construction within this remarkable, rich and complex site.