Central Bank HQ architects record €1.27m profit

The boom times are back for leading architectural firm and designers of the Central Bank’s new €80m headquarters, Henry J Lyons Architects.

New accounts just filed by HJ Lyons (Architects) Ltd show that pre-tax profits last year increased significantly from €125,703 to €1.27m. This followed revenues more than doubling from €4.4m to €9m in the 12 months to the end of May last.

The fees the firm has received from the Central Bank for its HQ project totalled €1.8m to the end of December 2015.

HJ Lyons is also the designer of Johnny Ronan’s €200m Pegasus office block plan in Ballsbridge.

The architectural firm has been in business for 90 years, over which time its projects have included the award-winning Criminal Courts of Justice and the five-star Westin hotel in Dublin.

Directors’ remuneration, including pay and pensions, last year almost doubled from €1.2m to €2.39m. This was made up of €1.8m in pay and €588,400 in pension contributions. There were no pension contributions made in 2014 when payments of €1.2m were made to directors. The average remuneration, including pensions, to the nine directors last year worked out at €265,888.

The increase in business resulted in the firm increasing its workforce by 46% from 65 to 95 employees.

Accumulated profits stood at €1.26m at the end of last May. During the year, the cash pile almost tripled, from €561,097 to €1.46m. The firm’s capital expenditure last year totalled €339,732.