An international architectural competition is to be held for the design of a new Abbey Theatre in Dublin's Custom House Docks, with the aim of producing a cultural "icon" for the 21st century, The Irish Times has learned.
According to well-placed sources, a memorandum on the project - now anticipated to cost €150 million - is in the final stages of preparation and will be presented to the Cabinet shortly by Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue.
The groundwork for the memorandum is being done by the Office of Public Works (OPW), which has been advising the Minister on alternative locations for a new Abbey Theatre for the past three years.
It is known that billionaire financier Dermot Desmond suggested the Custom House Docks as an option. Mr Desmond had plans to develop a multi-storey glazed "ecosphere" in George's Dock, but failed to win Government support.
The Abbey's "footprint" is also set to consume much of the listed dock basin, between one-third and one-half of the waterbody, according to estimates.
"The site is on the water," said John McLaughlin, director of planning and architecture with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA). "But when the Spiegel tent was there or the big top that housed Footsbarn, it enlivened the whole area."
The existing open space on the west side of George's Dock, between the three original blocks of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), "lacks a bit of focus", he commented. This would become the location of the main entrance for the new Abbey Theatre.
The DDDA has welcomed the proposal to locate the Abbey in George's Dock, which it sees as contributing to a more varied mix of uses in the Docklands area. It would also complement the restaurant, bar and other leisure uses in Stack A, due to open next year.
"Obviously, something like this would require detailed consideration and a lot would depend on the size of the footprint," Mr McLaughlin said.
One of the advantages of George's Dock is that it is already in public ownership, so there would be none of the property acquisition issues that arose with other locations considered, such as the Carlton in O'Connell Street or Coláiste Mhuire in Parnell Square.
The likelihood is that the architectural competition would be in two stages. Entrants would first have to submit concept designs, from which a shortlist of about six would be chosen to prepare more detailed plans. From this, a winning design would be selected.
If the Government decides to finance the project through a public-private partnership (PPP), the design that emerged from the competition would form the basis for tenders to build it. Going down the competition route would give pre-eminence to design over financial considerations.
