Porterhouse Bar opens in Glasnevin art deco landmark

Restored Buildings: Porterhouse North bar and restaurant is to open tomorrow in the landmark art deco former Arc Hire building at Crossguns Bridge in Glasnevin, which was restored at a cost of €2.7 million.

This will be Fabola Ltd's fourth Porterhouse venture; it already has pubs in Bray, Parliament Street in Temple Bar and Covent Garden in London. Fabola Ltd's directors are Oliver Hughes, David L'Estrange, Frank Ennis and Liam Lahart.

The Porterhouse brewery in Temple Bar was the first microbrewery in Dublin and in 1998 won the brewing industry gold medal for its plain porter.

Oliver Hughes, whose great grandfather owned Bartley Dunnes pub in Dublin and who set up the first Porterhouse in Bray with Liam Lahart in 1989, says the decision to open in Glasnevin was based "purely on the building". The restoration has taken over year.

"It was a shell and in poor condition when we bought it and the corrugated roof had to come off because it wasn't the most visually pleasing."

Porterhouse North, with over 464 sq m (5,000 sq ft) as well as a 185 sq m (2,000 sq ft) basement service area has a capacity for up to 500 people.

The building was originally the Iona Garage, run by the Cahill family, who were also associated with the Irish aviation industry. Hugh Cahill founded Iona National Airways, named after the garage, in the 1930s - it operated out of the Kildonan flying school in Finglas where some of the first Aer Lingus pilots were trained.

While not a protected building, it is one of the few art deco style buildings in Ireland. The main art deco feature on the building is the the stepped badge detail in the middle of the pediments. These have been preserved, stripped back to their original plaster and clad with black and white terrazzo with copper banding.

As well as the roof, all the doors and windows have been replaced to suit the original art deco style. The transformation was project managed by Frank Ennis & Associates, who acted as architects and interior designers.

The art deco style on the exterior has been echoed in the interior of the building, using materials associated with the era, including terrazzo on the floor, leather on the counter top, rippled glass walls with copper banding, ceramic column casings and ceramic freeze banding at eave and floor levels.

The Porterhouse opened on Parliament Street in 1996, replacing Rumpoles. In 2000, the Porterhouse Stout and Oyster bar opened in Covent Garden in London.

Oliver Hughes doesn't seem overly concerned that Porterhouse North will face stiff competition in the pub-rich Glasnevin, Phibsborough, Drumcondra area - pubs there include the Brian Boru across the road, the famous Gravediggers, and McGowans in Phibsborough and the Ivy House in Drumcondra.

"My attitude is that if it's a good bar, it will bring more business."