1976 – Setanta Centre, Nassau Street, Dublin

Behemoth leveraged into a 2.5-acre site originally containing over 55 properties assembled by developers. The site spanned from Nassau Street to Molesworth Street and from Kildare Street to South Frederick Street, but was a low and discrete presence along Nassau Street and facing Trinity College park which was the site of C&C Group’s factory. Initially refused planning permission, the developers appealed, and permission was granted in 1968. Some elements of the design were changed, with Georgian pastiche facades on Kildare Street.

It is a H shaped block varying in height from five to eight storeys with two basement levels underneath. The main and more noticeable part of the development is the large central building which rises to eight floors in the centre, all finished in a concrete aggregate panel. It had pedestrian routes through the site into a courtyard which featured a large mosaic artwork by Desmond Kinney (1934-2014), depicting the events of the story of the Táin.

For many years, a redevelopment plan has been pursued by the current owners with several variants of design, but this was held up by several court cases as well as appeals to An Bord Pleanala, but most of the interiors have been stripped out by 2021. In May 2022, it was announced that the development would not go ahead. The upper floors of the western end are now looking increasingly derelict.

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