Cork: Horgan’s Quay redevelopment on track to make its mark on cityscape

Anyone who has ever taken the train from Dublin to Cork knows that the journey ends through a long tunnel before bursting into light at the gently curving Kent Station.

What you might not know is that, in the 1850s, during the construction of the 1.25km long tunnel leading into the station, the excavated earth was used to fill in the site that would become Horgan’s Quay — now home to one of the most exciting mixed-use developments in Cork city.

The railway history of the six-acre site is at the heart of the €160 million redevelopment of Horgan’s Quay, which is a joint partnership between Clarendon Developments and BAM Construction.

Horgan’s Quay faces the Cork docks, which have been earmarked for a massive regeneration project. It’s on the doorstep of the city centre and, of course, there’s the train station, which is within shouting distance.

And those railway links abound at Horgan’s Quay. They’re in the names – Station Square and the Carriage Shed – but especially in the DNA of the new buildings springing up at Horgan’s Quay.

Already completed on the site is No 1 Horgan’s Quay, an eight-storey office block, and the Dean Cork, a 120-bedroom boutique hotel featuring a distinctive black exterior.

Both developments opened in November 2020, quite the achievement in a year when construction was severely hampered.

Clarendon and BAM are now ready to commence construction of No 2 Horgan’s Quay, right beside No 1 Horgan’s Quay.

“We’re hoping to have practical completion by the end of next year,” said Ronan Downing of Clarendon Developments.

Once complete, No 2 Horgan’s Quay will have 130,000 sq ft of office space, including a terrace.

In time, it will be joined by a third office block and a residential block with more than 300 units, which will be centred around the original railway station at Penrose Quay.

Then there’s the Railway Carriage, the old repair shed, which is being refurbished to accommodate 17,000 sq ft of bar, restaurant and retail space. To top it off, there are three separate plazas, offering huge potential in the post-Covid world.

Don’t be surprised then if Cork city, which has a penchant for city quarters, announces another one — “Railway Quarter”, with Horgan’s Quay at the heart of it.

The entrance to No 1. Horgan’s Quay, the first of the three office complexes to come online, is through the refurbished goods shed.

In a previous life, trains would have peeled off the main line towards the dock before coming to a halt where goods would be unloaded onto ships moored in the harbour, or onto a horse and cart.

“It would have been a state-of-the-art distribution centre when it was built,” Downing explained, on a recent weekday as we toured the state-of-the-art office block.

That goods shed which had fallen into serious disrepair has now been brought back to life and houses the lobby to No 1 Horgan’s Quay. Overhead, there’s a massive loft office space replete with the original beams.

As a showcase piece for Horgan’s Quay, it’s impressive — blending beautiful Cork limestone against an eight-storey office block, which may just have some of the most impressive views of the city.

As a calling card for enticing workers back to the office, these views will take a lot of beating.

As a location, Horgan’s Quay could hardly be beaten, but Clarendon and BAM have taken care to construct the type of post-modern office block that would be at home in the world’s biggest cities.

A rainwater harvesting system has been put in place to limit fresh water usage for flushing toilets and urinals.

The car park has charging points for electric vehicles and there is also underground parking for bicycles and shower facilities in all of the office blocks.

Touchless technology has been built into the design. A key card operates the elevators and the washing facilities in the bathrooms are activated by sensors. In a world reordered by the pandemic, features such as these will likely become the norm.

Spaces, a global provider of work spaces, occupies three floors at No 1 Horgan’s Quay. It will soon be joined by tech giant Apple.

The iPhone-maker has long had a campus in Holyhill, on the edge of the city, where it employs about 6,000 people.

This past March, it was widely reported that the US-headquartered tech leader would take on the top three floors at No 1 Horgan’s Quay, comprising more than 36,000 sq ft of office space.

With a stunning wraparound view of the city, the new office promises an inspiring vista.

Due to a confidentiality agreement, neither BAM nor Clarendon Developments could comment on the details of the Apple deal, but it represents a massive boost for the burgeoning development.

As the light flooded into the old clerk’s room at No 1 Horgan’s Quay, Downing said that, while the pandemic had taken a heavy toll on many city centres, the team behind the new development had been receiving a steady volume of enquiries from potential tenants for their state-of-the-art office space.

Aside from the massive health and safety headaches of building in a pandemic, Downing noted that one of the other, especially challenging, aspects of the Horgan Quay project was the conservation element.

“It’s a unique site,” he said, and the developers wanted to maintain that uniqueness as they build and breathe new life into what is likely to be a major new city quarter for the Munster capital.