Penrose Quay, Cork, Ireland

“In our minds, this is the next generation, best-in-class office development capable of attracting the best people for the best tenants who will enjoy it both from the outside looking in, and especially from the inside looking out,” states Frank O’ Mahony of Wilson Architecture.

Penrose Dock by Wilson Architecture is a 250,000-square-foot office development that consists of two world-class office blocks located in the heart of Cork’s North Quays retaining in full the historic 12,000-square-foot Penrose House, as a key feature of the 1.8-acre scheme.

This office complex, designed for the JCD Group, acts as both a focal point and the expression of a new architectural language within this area of the city. 

Penrose Dock has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Consisting of two office blocks of seven and ten floors, it embraces the historical and urban setting which includes Penrose House to provide a considered design that has the potential not only to contribute to the architectural quality of its immediate built environment but also to the wider city center experience. 

The well-proportioned forms are arranged around a central landscaped plaza whose curving lines provide contrast to the rigor of the finely detailed facades. It is a classically elegant building that sits well in this waterfront location.

According to the firm, “Penrose Dock is perfectly tailored for the future workplace and provides its occupants with an unsurpassed professional and personal quality of life.”

The first building, Penrose One is organized in a formal ‘pavilion’ type form, with classically arranged proportions to its form and elevation treatment.

The strong architectural expression is organized in three distinct modules vertically across the façade and the descaling mechanisms of “notching” the façade grid is incorporated into the East and West facades of the building to enhance its scale relationship.

Penrose Two employs the same façade discipline as Penrose One, to provide a framing approach to the historic centerpiece building.

This façade consistency provides the site with a unique urban feel and further highlights the retained heritage element as the centerpiece.

Penrose Two’s scale presents the plaza at a level to form a strong urban quality to the formal plaza confluence of access streets.

Entry to the building culminates in a central naturally lit atrium space at the heart of the building which provides a visual connection to the upper levels and orientation point.

The architects have also created a central plaza that provides the stage for all these elements to act in concert with the addition of a glazed curved entrance pavilion to the gym to the rear of Penrose House which draws users across the space.

The landscape is a mix of soft and hard landscaped elements with a water feature to the South of Penrose Two.

To conclude, the historic Penrose House is separated from the development by new permeable pedestrian passageways which draws users into the new central plaza which is an exciting urban focal point.

Project: Penrose Dock 
Architects: Wilson Architecture
Lead Architect: Frank O’Mahony
General Contractor: PJ Hegarty and Sons
Client: JCD Group
Photographers: f22 Photography