Architects Deady Gahan relocate to MacCurtain Street’s Thompson House

Architectural firm Deady Gahan has relocated to MacCurtain St: the latest arrival to a part of the city fast gaining a reputation as Cork’s most improved quarter.

After 20 years in Little Island, the leading design practice has taken over a lease at Thompson House, formerly home to Thompson’s Bakery, which closed in 1985, after almost 160 years in business.

Workers at the former bakery

Deady Gahan’s choice of Thompson House is a good fit for an architectural firm as it’s a first-rate example of how skilled architectural input can remodel, repurpose, and upgrade a heritage building for modern use. The upgrade and conversion works of the former bakery buildings were overseen by architect John Hegarty of Fourem in recent years, while the late Frank Murphy designed the distinctive glass curtain wall extension in the late 1960s.

Frank Murphy’s distinctive glass wall extension 

David Deady, who leads Deady Gahan along with Eamonn Gahan, said they were delighted with the move to the Victorian Quarter. David started out in the garage of his home in Douglas, before joining forces with Eamonn in 2004, followed by the opening of offices in Eastgate Village Retail Park in Little Island the following year. Distance restrictions imposed by the pandemic proved tricky for the firm — the requirement for desks to be kept 2m apart forced them to lease another unit.

“It was like having two offices and we really wanted to get everyone back together because bouncing ideas off each other is an essential part of architectural practice,” Mr Deady said.

Eamonn Gahan and Dave Deady, Directors at Deady Gahan Architects outside their new MacCurtain Street offices in Cork city. Picture: Larry Cummins

The pair viewed a couple of office options along the city’s quays, but were swayed by the history and heritage of the listed Thompsons building.

“We loved the double height space and nice stone walls, so we made the jump,” Mr Deady said.

“It’s great to be all back together again. A lot of our 27 staff are young and come from cities around the world, so being in the city is a more attractive location for them to work in,” he added.

Ger Naughton, Associate Director, Dave Deady , Director, Eamonn Gahan, Director and Liam Murphy, Associate Director. Picture: Larry Cummins

Deady Gahan has taken over the lease from global talent hunter Star Circle, who had about five years left to run. Their office requirements shrank post-covid with the acceleration of remote working and they no longer required 3,200 sq ft of office space. Amanda Isherwood of Sherry FitzGerald negotiated the changeover of the lease to Deady Gahan, whose annual rent will be in the order of €80,000 or €23 per sq ft.

The building is now fully let with about 300 staff on the top two floors occupied by anchor tenant Marriott International, who recently renewed their lease for another 10 years. They occupy 40,000 sq ft and the offices are let at €23 per sq ft.

Other tenants include solicitors JRAP, towards the rear of the building.

Deady Gahan are on ground floor level, with frontage onto MacCurtain Street, where Cork City Council has invested heavily in improvements to public realm over the past few years. The iconic Metropole Hotel has also carried out significant upgrades.

Digitally altered image with company logo added to exterior- new signage yet to be installed at Deady Gahan Architects new offices Picture: Jim Rocks/Media Pro Cork

Further uplift is expected when the Premier Inn gets up and running at the junction of MacCurtain St and Brian Boru St. UK owners of the Premier Inn brand, Whitbread, have planning permission for a c 170-bed hotel on the site of the former Leisureplex/Coliseum Cinema. Leisureplex has now vacated the building and Whitbread has appointed a demolition contractor to clear the site, which is expected to be completed by spring.