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Apollo House was a 9-storey
office block An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
in
Tara Street Tara Street () is a major traffic route in Dublin, Ireland, partly due to the current one-way traffic flow in the city centre.
,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.


History

Apollo House was built in 1969 for the Norwich Union Group by Block Office and Shop Investments. 7 older buildings were demolished to make way for the 9-storey office block with street level retail, a car park, and a petrol station. It was constructed with pre-cast concrete blocks, and designed by David Keane, who also designed Phibsboro Shopping Centre.


Occupation

The empty office block was occupied by 40 homeless people for 27 days from 15 December to 12 January 2017, supported by the Irish Housing Network under the campaign entitled "Home Sweet Home". Over the course of the occupation, 205 homeless people were housed in the block. Among the supporters of the occupation were
Glen Hansard Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten o ...
,
Christy Dignam Christopher Dignam (23 May 1960 – 13 June 2023) was an Irish singer who was best known as the lead singer of the popular Irish rock band Aslan. His career of over 40 years was characterised by numerous successes on the Irish charts as well as ...
,
Jim Sheridan Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish people, Irish playwright and filmmaker. Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed three critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, ''My Left Foot'' (1989), ''The Field (1990 film), The Field'' (19 ...
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Kodaline Kodaline () are an Irish rock band. Originally known as 21 Demands, the band adopted their current name in 2012 to coincide with the changing of their music. The group comprises Steve Garrigan, Vincent May, Mark Penderson and Jason Boland. Gar ...
, and
Hozier Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally as Hozier ( ), is an Irish musician. His music primarily draws from Folk music, folk, Soul music, soul and blues, often using religious and literary themes and taking politica ...
.


Demolition and redevelopment

After the demolition of Apollo House in June 2018, the remains of a large stone building were discovered on the site which are thought to be the chapel which was known to have existed in this area. The site was purchased by developer Pat Crean's Marlet Property Group for an estimated €56 million from the
National Asset Management Agency The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA; ) is a body created by the Government of Ireland in late 2009 in response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish property bubble. NAMA functions as a '' bad bank'', acquiring ...
. Permission was granted for a mixed development on the site, alongside the adjoining College House and
Screen Cinema The Screen Cinema was a three-screen cinema in Hawkins Street, Dublin, Ireland. History The cinema had been operating since 1984, showing world cinema, and independent and Irish films. The Screen Cinema, originally named The New Metropole, ope ...
, under the new name College Square. This was despite objections from
An Taisce An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland (; "An Taisce" meaning "the store" or "the treasury"), established on a provisional basis in September 1946, and incorporated as a company based on an “association not for profit” in June 1948, is ...
about the impact of a new development that is proposed to be taller than the previous Apollo House.


Gallery

File:On top deck of a Dublin Bus on Poolbeg Street, Dublin, Ireland looking west. At traffic lights with Tara Street.png, Westward view down Poolbeg Street in 2015


See also

*
Hawkins House (Dublin) Hawkins House was a 12-storey office block in Dublin, Ireland. It was demolished in 2021. History Hawkins House, with the Screen Cinema, was built on the site of the Theatre Royal which sat on the corner of Hawkins Street and Townsend Stree ...
*
Mulligan's Mulligan's is a pub in Dublin, Ireland which opened on Poolbeg Street in 1854. History The first Mulligan's was established on Thomas Street, Dublin in 1782. The Mulligan family moved their business to several different premises, before leasing ...
(est.1854), a notable nearby pub *
Screen Cinema The Screen Cinema was a three-screen cinema in Hawkins Street, Dublin, Ireland. History The cinema had been operating since 1984, showing world cinema, and independent and Irish films. The Screen Cinema, originally named The New Metropole, ope ...


References

{{History of Dublin Office buildings in the Republic of Ireland Office buildings completed in 1969 Buildings and structures demolished in 2018 Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) 1969 establishments in Ireland 2018 disestablishments in Ireland Brutalist architecture in Ireland Demolished buildings and structures in Dublin 20th-century architecture in the Republic of Ireland