Dublin's Custom House overhaul to allow greater public access

Dublin’s Custom House has many ‘constraints, deficiencies, and weaknesses’, according to report. Picture: Billy Higgins

One of the country’s most beloved buildings could be in line for a major renewal that will allow the public much greater access to it as well as its gardens and inner courtyards.

As part of a proposed masterplan for the Custom House in Dublin, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has said its grounds should be opened up to the public.

A departmental report has also floated the possibility of the central area of the building being redeveloped as a “public cultural space”.

Mr Murphy approved a plan to go ahead with a cost benefit analysis project for the building, which is often considered the masterpiece of architect James Gandon.

Giving his approval for a cost benefit analysis, Mr Murphy wrote: “Approved on the basis that renewal will include an opening of the grounds to the public as part of enhancing the provision of public space generally.”

A development options paper said the building —which is currently home to the Department of Housing — has many “constraints, deficiencies, and weaknesses”.

Dating from the 1790s, it was set on fire during the War of Independence in 1921 and has been restored but not to its original form.

The report said: “Following the fire, the central area was not reconstructed to its original form, and different areas have been the subject of various ad-hoc changes, small-scale works, improvements, adaptations, and enhancements down the years.”

It said much of the building was made up of small offices and rooms with very few large open spaces or areas for conferencing or meeting.

The number of single offices — all quite large and well above current “space norms” — also meant that the building was not being used to its potential capacity with one of the “poorest occupation rates” of any public building in Ireland.

The report said that it had been nearly three decades since there had been any significant investment in the building.

“Many of the improvements that were made in the 1980s and 1990s are reaching the end of their life cycle,” said the cost benefit analysis.

It said even though it was one of Ireland’s “most loved” buildings, public access to it was limited with its small visitor centre currently closed for renovation.

From the original construction of the Custom House until the late 1940s, the area surrounding it had been open to the public with landscaped paths providing easy through access.

However, the construction of nearby Busáras and changes to the road layout led to the installation of full height railings.

“The combination of new roads and railings further isolated the building,” said the report, “effectively cutting it off from the surrounding public realm.”

Part of the plan also involves making the building more environmentally friendly.