Irish Times, September 5, 2001
Luxury Homes for Quaker Hospital Site
The 200-year-old Bloomfield Hospital and grounds off Morehampton Road in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, is to be redeveloped as one of the city’s most exclusive residential enclaves with houses costing up to £2.5 million (€4m) each.
The Galway-based property developer Radical Properties Ltd. has agreed to build a 65-bedroom nursing home on a 10-acre site at Stocking Lane in Rathfarnham in part exchange for the 4.8-acre Donnybrook complex which is owned by the Religious Society of Friends – otherwise known as the Quakers. As well as providing the new nursing home and a meeting house for the Quakers at an overall cost of around £18 million (?2.86m), Mr. Gerard Barrett’s Radical Properties is also understood to be paying the society about £4 million (?.08m).For that he gets a superb Dublin 4 development site offering privacy and seclusion just off Morehampton Road. The main entrance is located on Bloomfield Avenue, at the side of Sachs Hotel, and there is also a pedestrian access to Leeson Park Avenue, a quiet Victorian road with two rows of two-storey redbricks. Bloomfield adjoins the Royal Hospital, which also has vast grounds.
The Bloomfield Hospital is currently based in two 18th and 19th century buildings which were listed for preservation after they went for sale even though they are quite obviously of no architectural merit. However, the new owner plans to restore them, convert them into 25,000 Sq. Ft. of offices and integrate them into the new scheme. The only interesting building on the site, Bloomfield House and Swanbrook House, are to be restored and Swanbrook and its adjoining cottage are to be set within their own grounds.
The overall redevelopment plan, designed by Gerry Hand of architects Douglas Wallace, is based around the concept of a formal residential square on the model of the Regency/Victorian squares such as Onslow and Cadogan in London. The scheme will conform with the present mature landscape and, where appropriate, additional mature trees will be planted.
Around 15 Regency-style houses, 20 mews houses and 45 apartments aimed at the top end of the market are to be built on the site. The square will be faced on three sides with a four-storey terrace of Regency-style houses similar to those built by Nash at Regents Park. There are to be three private mews courtyards, two of them with a mixture of two and three-storey mews houses and apartments to be accessed off the corners off the square. A third courtyard will be reached off Bloomfield Avenue and will contain a mixture of mews houses and apartments. Car Parking will be under the courtyard.
Most interest is likely to centre on the Regency-style houses which will have between 3,600 and 4,000 Sq. Ft. of living space on four floors. They are likely to cost around £2.5 million (€4m) each.
The entrances to the house will be at first floor level via half flight of granite steps. The principal dining and reception rooms at this level will be of a size and proportion similar to a piano nobile floor in a Regency style house. The mews houses and their courtyard will be designed in a more contemporary style and will cost from £1 million (?.27m) each. They will have two and three bedrooms and floor areas of 1,200 to 1,400 Sq. Ft. over two and three levels. All of them will have private courtyards or rear gardens.
Radical Properties has completed a number of high profile developments including the Jurys Inn in Limerick and the Edward Square shopping complex alongside the Eyre Square shopping centre in Galway. The company recently lodged a planning application for a £60m (?6.18m) shopping and residential development in a rundown docklands area of Drogheda, which is likely to prove a major boost for the town. Mr. Barrett also holds a major stake in Guild House, a large office block in Dublin’s IFSC. The project manager for the Quakers was Bill Nowlan of William K Nowlan and Associates while the Bloomfield committee was advised by Edmund Douglas and Ben Pearson of Douglas Newman Good Commercial.
Press Releases Archive
24th November 2005
The interior of the new G hotel in Galway - designed by Philip Treacy - is extraordinarily glamourous.
The Irish Times 16th November 2005
Drogheda became one of the last big towns in Ireland to move into the modern shopping era last Thursday when the stunning new Scotch Hall shopping centre opened, marking the first phase of the rejuvenation of the rundown docklands area. The €200 million complex is one of the finest on the east coast.
Sunday Times Style Magazine 13th November 2005
Someone’s let Philip Treacy loose on a hotel in Ireland. Dominic Bradbury surveys the results.
Sunday Business Post 28th September 2005
The finishing touches are being put to Scotch Hall, Galway developer Gerry Barrett's €150 million retail and leisure development on the south bank of the river Boyne in Drogheda, Co Louth. The scheme, which is expected to draw customers from as far afield as Navan, Newry, Dundalk and Dublin, has been six years in the pipeline and has been under construction for just over two years.
Sunday Tribune 23rd January 2005
A 27-STOREY residential tower, part of a plan to further develop the river side area of Drogheda, could have the similar effect on the town that the Guggenheim museum had on Bilbao, according to architect Gerry Hand of Douglas Wallace.
The Irish Times 10th November 2004
The Galway property developer Gerry Barrett has bought the distinctive Victorian University Hall in Hatch Street, Dublin 2, for over €16 million.
3rd September 2004
Irish-based property company Edward Holdings has launched a new subsidiary hotel brand, Monogram Hotels.
The Sunday Tribune: 14th November 2004
It’s a €100m near sellout as the country’s wealthiest buyers splash out on Gerry Barrett’s D4 development.
The Irish Times: 1st July 2004
The final 17 apartments and coach-houses in what is the most exclusive and expensive scheme in Galway go on the market today.
The Connacht Tribune: 31st January 2003
Two international hotel chains have expressed interest in operating a 129-bedroom hotel in Wellpark which has been given planning approval by city planners.
The Connacht Tribune: 4th October 2002
Plans for a 129-bedroom hotel at Moneenageisha Cross, to replace part of an already approved office development, have been submitted to the City Council.
Drogheda Independent: 19th June 2002
Drogheda Borough Councillors have given the green light to the ambitious Scotch Hall development on the South Quay - despite an objection from Parolen Limited the developers of the Laurence Street shopping development.
Drogheda Independent: 29th March 2002
The proposed Scotch Hall development planned for Drogheda's south quay will lead to 550 jobs according to the developers.
Irish Times: 27th March 2002
The 200-year-old Bloomfield Hospital and grounds off Morehampton Road in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, is to be redeveloped as one of the city's most exclusive residential enclaves with houses costing up to £2.5 million (€4m) each.
Luxury Homes for Quaker Hospital Site
Irish Times: 5th September 2001
Atlantic Homecare is to anchor a new retail park at one of the principal gateways to Galway city.
Drogheda Independent: 30th March 2001
Drogheda's Docklands are to be transformed by an ambitious £50 million redevelopment on the site of the Lakelands grain store.
Galway City Tribune: 12th January 2001
A multi-million pound development which will provide a specialist shopping centre and offices for high-tech companies is being planned for the Wellpark area.
Drogheda Independent: 30th June 2000
The Skyline of Drogheda may be about to change with the possible demolition and removal of the large grey metal silos in the Lakeland Dairies premises on the Marsh Road now that the company is apparently considering relocating to a more rural location.
Galway City Tribune: 14th April 2000
The new £40 million shopping complex, Edward Square, opened its doors on Wednesday morning and enjoyed brisk business all day as thousands thronged the new centre.
Galway City Tribune: 10th September 1999
Top UK retailer 'Next' have been confirmed as tenants of the £26 million Edward Square shopping complex which is hoped to open on schedule at the end of November just in time for the hectic Christmas shopping period.
Galway City Tribune: 26th September 1997
Developers should liase more with residents before lodging their planning applications with the planning authority to avoid delays, it was claimed this week.
Irish Independent: 23rd July 1997
A major new shopping scheme is on the cards for Barrack Lane in Galway City which will see a new department store, ten shops and up to 50 new homes put in place costing £22m.
