IN2 works its magic on this 150-year-old Dublin landmark

About the project

The Central Hotel redevelopment breathes new life into one of Dublin’s most historic hospitality landmarks. Located at the corner of Exchequer Street, Dame Court, and South Great George’s Street, the project refurbishes a late-19th-century protected structure into a contemporary 4-star 129-room hotel, while preserving its iconic character and heritage features.

The scheme thoughtfully reconfigures and extends the existing hotel through a series of sensitive architectural interventions. The works include a new rooftop extension, a seven-storey addition on Dame Court, and extensive internal refurbishments while retaining the celebrated Library Bar and grand entrance hall, all unified by a design approach that balances conservation, sustainability, and urban renewal.

IN2 provided full MEP and Sustainability consultancy services for the redevelopment from concept stage in 2019 through to the eventual handover in 2025. Central to the design approach was reusing and adapting the existing fabric of the protected structure. This aligned with goals to reduce the embodied carbon by minimising new structures, plant, equipment, and the impacts of services distribution on the historic fabric. Natural ventilation was considered for the bedrooms but ultimately discounted due to associated acoustic concerns given the hotel’s location in the city centre. The ground floor public areas are naturally ventilated, reducing plant and embodied carbon while also saving on operational energy.

It was decided early in the design process to eliminate fossil fuels from the site, relying instead on Hybrid VRF air conditioning and heat pump technology for all heating, cooling and hot water demands. The hot water heat pump strategy utilises large buffer vessels in the basement which in turn uses high output heat exchanges to heat the water on demand. This approach avoids storing the hot water that is delivered to the taps, eliminating one of the main hygiene risks typically associated with hotels.

A sophisticated metering system was included to monitor the primary energy loads throughout the building using heat meters, water meters and electricity meters. This system will give the hotel insight to enable targeted savings in operational energy use, reducing utility bills. The lighting design includes LED fittings throughout. A lighting control system is provided to the front of house areas which allows the hotel to set and fix the lighting levels. Absence detection is included for all back of house areas to reduce energy consumption. All pumps are installed with variable speed controls and all fans use EC motors to further reduce energy consumption.

As a protected structure the building is exempt from the building regulations energy targets. Nonetheless, the design approach resulted in the finished building achieving an A3 BER rating; an exceptional result, demonstrating what can be done with a collaborative approach to design focused on sustainability.