Its future as the tallest building in Ireland may be under threat from new projects elsewhere but Cork County Hall looks set to remain a landmark building following completion of a €62 million refurbishment.
Built originally in 1968 as a 16-storey building, the tower block on the Carrigrohane Straight has had an extra floor added in the course of the three-year refurbishment and will be officially opened next Monday by Cork county mayor Cllr Michael Creed.
The extension incorporates both the refurbishment and upgrading of the existing tower block as well as the construction of a six-storey extension on its eastern side which houses an elliptical wood-lined chamber set on steel stilts.
The decision to expand and refurbish County Hall came amid a rise in staff numbers which had obliged the council to rent office space elsewhere and some had felt the council should build a new headquarters on a greenfield site, said Cork county manager Maurice Moloney.
"The County Hall was built in the 1960s and buildings from that era have come for a lot criticism over the years. But it is a listed building and we felt it was a landmark for the people of Cork and that we should stay and try and expand and refurbish it sympathetically," he said.
A competition for the refurbishment and expansion was held under the auspices of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland and among the many entries received, that from Shay Cleary Architects was chosen.
"Shay Cleary's design is very sympathetic to the tower block - it refurbishes it through the opening up of the floors inside and recladding the concrete cruciform struts as well as putting a new skin of glass louvres which will open and close according to the weather.
"It's a very sympathetic refurbishment which clearly recognises the building was designed and built in the 1960s but it modernises it for the 21st century and we're very pleased with how it treats the tower block," said Mr Moloney.
The refurbishment, which also involved the construction of a multi-storey car park, will see both the 16th floor and the new 17th floor leased to catering and events company Master Chef, which will operate a conference centre and hospitality suite.
Pat O'Sullivan of Master Chef said the 17th storey, with its panoramic views of Cork city, offered a unique opportunity and will be available for corporate functions from late August while the 16th floor can accommodate conferences of up to 180 people.
Master Chef, which will operate the canteen at the County Hall for the council's 700 staff, will also use the new council chamber to host conferences for up to 100 people when it is not being used by the council.
The completion of the refurbishment has also seen the return of Oisín Kelly's landmark Working Men sculpture, known affectionately in Cork as "Cha and Miah" after the characters on Hall's Pictorial Weekly, which had been removed during the refurbishment work.
