The Maritime Quarter

The Maritime Quarter Project transforms a key site on Dublin’s North Quays into a vibrant new civic and recreational hub for the River Liffey. Combining a Municipal Water Sports Centre with a new Docklands Office for Dublin City Council, the project brings renewed life to a stretch of waterfront long disconnected from public access. Its design draws inspiration from the simple brick and timber warehouses that once defined the docks, reinterpreting their forms through contemporary faceted geometries and an origami-like zinc roof that frames long, cinematic views down the river.

The site occupies what was once adjacent to the Queen’s bonded timber yard, an important industrial landscape where imported lumber was stored, processed and distributed across Dublin. This history is reflected in the project’s extensive use of timber—from its expressed internal structure to the glulam canopies—linking the new buildings to the material legacy of the waterfront while reducing embodied carbon and creating a warm, tactile civic architecture. Elevated above the ground, the building protects the historic Gandon and Rennie river walls beneath, and forms part of the city's flood-defence system through its integrated upstand and deployable barriers.

The two buildings frame a new public space and publicly accessible boardwalk that reconnects Dubliners with the river. This new edge provides step-free access, new viewing points onto the Liffey, and direct connection to the emerging maritime quarter, linking the project to the Jeanie Johnston famine ship, the Dublin Fire Brigade’s river operations, and future public kayaking activities supported by Dublin City Council.

Today, the Maritime Quarter Project supports kayaking, rowing, sailing and community events, offering a welcoming gateway to the water and establishing a new model for sustainable, resilient and engaging civic architecture in Dublin bringing life back to Dublin's greatest asset, the River Liffey.