The contraction of the College Green area of Dublin as the home of financial institutions combined with the expansion of the Grafton Street centred retail core precipitated the sale, by the Bank of Ireland, of its College Green/Suffolk St. premises. Subsequently, planning permission was granted for a change of use from a single banking institution to a mixed-use development comprising retail and commercial.

In 2004 Donnelly Turpin Architects was commissioned to design a new facade and office entrance to the Suffolk Street frontage in keeping with the recently granted change of use.

A direct, robust representation was sought to reflect the buildings new use. There are two elements to the design: (i) the building takes the form of a fully glazed stone framed ‘box’ supported on stainless steel clad columns above a recessed ground floor and (ii) a four storey atrium occupies a ‘slot’ located between the new building and the neighbouring Ulster Bank property.