Central Bank picks bidder for facade

Architectural Aluminium we hear has been picked as the preferred bidder to build the high-tech new eco-facade of the Central Bank of Ireland. Fittingly, it will be constructed on a north Docklands site once earmarked for the former Anglo Irish Bank.

The contract is a chunky one and is thought to be worth in the region of €15 million for Dublin 12-based AA, which has previously worked on such notable buildings as Dublin Airport's Pier D and E, as well as the swanky Oval Building in Dublin 4, and the striking Independent News & Media printing press building.

The anodised metal on the exterior of the new Central Bank requires great technical expertise, as it is a key part of giving the building an energy rating of A2, making it one of the most energy efficient in the State. The Central Bank said it was “inappropriate to comment” as the procurement process was in its “final stages.”

As for the main contractor job on the bank’s new HQ, things are really beginning to heat up there. About a dozen bidders in the race, but again the bank stayed mum about how this was going. It is expected that the main contractor will be appointed and start on site in the first half of 2015.

“The value of this contract is commercially sensitive information which the bank will not comment on,” said the bank. With the bill for the entire project due to come in at €140 million, whoever is successful here will have won a very big gig.