Miesian Plaza (formerly known as the Bank of Ireland Headquarters) is an office building complex on Lower Baggot Street,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. It is designed in the International Style, inspired by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, particularly his

Seagram Building The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with minor assistance from Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, ...

. It was designed by the firm

Scott Tallon Walker Scott Tallon Walker is an architecture practice with its head office in Dublin, Ireland and further offices in London, Galway and Cork. It is one of the largest architecture practices in Ireland. Established in 1931 as Scott and Good, becoming ...

, one of the founders of which, Robin Walker, studied under and taught with Mies van der Rohe, though the building was chiefly designed by partner, Ronnie Tallon. Dublin City Council described it as "one of the most important

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

buildings in Ireland" and "Dublin’s finest example of the restrained and elegant

Miesian Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Llo ...

style", and its facade and plaza are protected structures.

History

The complex was built as the Bank of Ireland's headquarters, and it was known by that name for most of its history. Construction was controversial as it entailed the demolition of a block of

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

homes. The project was said to have used so much bronze, £1.25 million worth of Delta manganese bronze, that the global price of bronze was impacted. The building was completed in 1972, and was the largest bronze-walled building in Europe. Costing a total of £4.6 million, it was the most expensive office development built in Ireland at the time. The Bank of Ireland sold the property in 2006 at the height of the

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" ( ga, An Tíogar Ceilteach) is a term referring to the economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by a subseque ...

property boom and moved its headquarters from the building in 2010. An extensive redevelopment and expansion was proposed in 2008 but rejected by Dublin City Council due to the impacts on its protected architecture and surrounding area. The complex was purchased by Larry Goodman in 2012 and extensive renovations were carried out under the original architects

, respecting the complex's iconic design. Following the renovations, the complex was renamed Miesian Plaza, and in 2019 became the first development in Ireland to achieve LEED Platinum v4 certification.

Design

Miesian Plaza includes three buildings of four, five, and eight storeys in height, with a central plaza. The two shorter buildings are adjacent to Lower Baggot Street with the 8-story building behind them, minimising its towering effect on the street. The plaza contains the sculptures ''Reflections'' by Michael Bulfin and ''Red Cardinal'' by John Burke. Bank of Ireland HQ Baggot Street

The complex's facade and plaza were listed as protected structures in 2010. The facade is identical to that on Mies van der Rohe's

Tenants

The complex was the Bank of Ireland's headquarters from 1972 to 2010. Miesian Plaza is the headquarters of pharmaceutical company Shire () and of Ireland's departments of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and of

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

(both ).

References

{{coord missing, County Dublin Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Office buildings in the Republic of Ireland