Merchant's Quay

This project for Dublin City Arts Office aims to revitalise a corner block on Merchant's Quay, creating a community-facing cultural centre in a flagship regeneration of this historic part of the city. It will provide 20 new workspaces for artists of all disciplines in numbers 8 and 9 Merchant’s Quay and bring the 1950s St. Anthony’s Theatre back into use on Skipper’s Alley.

The block is anchored by the Church of Adam and Eve and bordered by the river Liffey. Numbers 8 and 9 face on to the river and were formerly part of the Franciscan Friary. Dating from the 1950s and 1740s respectively, these buildings have been used as offices in recent years, but much of their original interiors remain and will be conserved, creating beautiful workspaces of different sizes and orientation.

Light touch interventions will upgrade fire and accessibility standards, and connect through to St. Anthony’s Theatre, a modernist jewel and also a Protected Structure. Here, the position of the stage will be reversed, and movable racked seating will be introduced, allowing the space to be flexible and multi-functional – a venue for performance and a community amenity for classes, meetings, workshops, etc.

A copper clad insertion above the theatre houses its technical equipment, and echoes the neighbouring dome of Adam and Eve’s. Additional workspace will also be provided by a developed roofscape of terraces. The theatre’s original entrance on to Skippers Alley will be reopened, activating this in-between space with an enhanced public realm.