Boland's Mill facts for kids

Boland's Quay development nearing completion in May 2020

Boland's Mill

Boland's Mill was located on the Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, Ireland on Ringsend Road between the inner basin of Grand Canal Dock and Barrow Street. As of 2019, it is undergoing a €150 million reconstruction to become Bolands Quay, a development of new residences and commercial, retail, and civic spaces.

The mill site includes a number of buildings. There are two six-storey stone warehouse buildings dating from the 1830s, and others on Barrow Street dating from the 1870s. The majority of the complex consisted of concrete silos built between the 1940s and 1960s. The mill stopped production in 2001 and the site had been derelict since then. Within the complex of buildings, the older 19th century stone block buildings facing onto Ringsend Road and onto Grand Canal Dock together with two terraced houses on Barrow street are listed as protected buildings by Dublin City Council. The taller concrete silos on the site were not protected structures, and were demolished during the construction in 2017-2018.

The site is in an area dubbed "Silicon Docks" (a reference to Silicon Valley) as it has become location for high-tech multinationals such as Google and Facebook.

Site control and planning

Current plans

Since 2015, the site is undergoing a €150 million reconstruction that will be known as 'Bolands Quay', accommodating new residences, commercial, retail, and civic spaces.

On 2 December 2014 a site notice was posted which indicated plans for the site. This notice included details of:

1. Building A - a two-storey building on the corner of Barrow Street and Ringsend Road, "to be retained and restored for retail/restaurant/cafe use", with new windows and an entrance on Ringsend Road
2. Buildings B1-B5 - ranging from five to eight storeys, to "be retained and restored for office use, and retail/restaurant/cafe use at ground level"
3. Building C - six storeys on Ringsend Road, and fronting the dock
4. Building D - two storeys plus basement, currently 33 and 34 Barrow Street, retained and restored for retail/restaurant/cafe use.
5. Factory building - two storey brick gables, to be partially demolished, with refurbishment to match that of building C, and planned for cultural/exhibition use.
6. New Office Building 1 - five storeys increasing to 14 storeys (max. building height 53.65 m (176.0 ft)), fronting Barrow Street and accommodating office use
7. New Office Building 2 - five storeys increasing to 13 storeys (max. building height 49.85 m (163.5 ft)), fronting Barrow Street and accommodating office use
8. New Residential Building 3 - fifteen storeys (max. building height 47.8 m (157 ft)), with 30 two-bedroom units and 2 three-bedroom units, with a reception at ground floor and gym at first floor
9. Three new pedestrian routes from Barrow Street, new civic waterfront square adjacent to the dock, a bridge link along the dock connecting the square to McMahon Bridge (Ringsend Road), with a second open space to the south of the factory building.
10. Three levels of underground parking under buildings 1, 2, and 3, and a new vehicular ramp to replace existing ramp alongside the Mason Hayes & Curran building.

The National Asset Management Agency took control of the site in late 2012. On 19 May 2014, it was reported that Google was considering the derelict site for further development of the company in the area. In May 2018, it was announced that Google had bought the site from the National Asset Management Agency for €300 million.

Previous plans

The Boland's Mill site initially had planning permission for an office, residential and retail/hotel redevelopment granted by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (under Section 25 of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act, 1997). The site was sold to Versus Limited/Benton Properties for 42 million euros in 2004 and had planned to develop 67 apartments, two houses, 13,284 square metres (142,990 sq ft) of office space, as well as retail and leisure facilities on the site.

The property collapsed in value by a significant 84 percent following the property market bust, from €61m in 2007 to €9.9m in 2009, according to accounts filed by Versus with the Companies Office. Versus owed parent company Benton €15.8m.

See also

In Spanish: Boland's Mill para niños