Places · Ireland · Dublin
Façade & building consultants in Dublin.
From medieval cathedrals and Georgian red-brick squares to glass towers in the Docklands, Dublin's buildings span more than 800 years. McKay Turner Consulting provides façade condition surveys, defect and water ingress investigations, external wall fire risk reviews and technical due diligence across the city.
DUBLIN 53.3500° N, 6.2603° W
A short history
A Viking port that became a Georgian capital
Dublin grew from a Viking settlement on the Liffey into a capital city. Its 18th-century squares and stone public buildings still shape the centre today.
- c. 841
A Viking port
Vikings settle beside the Liffey at a place they call Dyflin.
- 1180s
A cathedral in stone
Christ Church Cathedral is rebuilt in stone under Strongbow and other Norman backers.
- 1592
Trinity College
Elizabeth I opens Trinity College Dublin, now a landmark campus in the heart of the city.
- 1762
Merrion Square
The square is laid out for the FitzWilliam estate, soon lined with red-brick Georgian townhouses.
- 1791
The Custom House
James Gandon's Custom House opens on the Liffey, faced in Portland stone.
- 1916
Rising and revolution
Shelling in the Easter Rising destroys much of the centre. The Custom House is burned in 1921 and the Four Courts shelled in 1922.
- 1987
Back to the docks
The financial services centre begins on the old Custom House Docks, starting the regeneration of the Docklands.
- 2025
A new high point
College Square completes at 82m, the Republic's tallest habitable building, and the first new homes finish at Poolbeg West.
Architecture
What makes Dublin's buildings distinctive
Dublin is known for its Georgian squares, and it also has medieval cathedrals, grand stone public buildings and modern glass towers. More than 8,400 buildings are on the city's Record of Protected Structures.
Key styles
Medieval
Christ Church Cathedral, rebuilt from the 1180s in local calp limestone with carved Somerset stone. Much of it was later rebuilt by the Victorians.
Georgian
Red-brick townhouses around squares such as Merrion Square, laid out from 1762. Almost all of its original houses survive.
Palladian & Neoclassical
Grand public buildings in stone, such as Parliament House (1729) on College Green and James Gandon's Custom House (1791).
Victorian Gothic Revival
George Street's near rebuilding of Christ Church in 1871–78, with a new tower, choir and flying buttresses.
Modernism
Busáras (1953), with Portland stone, glass façades and a wavy concrete canopy, was hailed abroad as Europe's first postwar office building.
Contemporary
Glass offices and apartments in the Docklands, starting with the IFSC in 1987, and College Square (2025) on Townsend Street.
The city's material palette
Did you know?
When the Custom House was restored after the 1921 fire, its new dome was built in Irish Ardbraccan limestone, noticeably darker than the original Portland stone.
Parliament House on College Green, begun in 1729, was the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house. The Bank of Ireland has owned it since 1803.
College Square is the first building in the Republic of Ireland to rise above 80 metres. On the island of Ireland, only Belfast's Obel Tower is taller.
Typical building types
What Dublin is built of today
A dense Georgian core, large Docklands office districts and fast-growing apartment quarters give Dublin a varied building stock. Apartments made up around 70% of new homes in Dublin in 2025.
Commercial offices
Georgian townhouse offices alongside glass headquarters built since the late 1980s.
Where: Docklands, St Stephen's Green, Harcourt Street
City-centre apartments
Blocks from the 1990s and 2000s boom and newer towers. Many built between 1991 and 2013 have known defects.
Where: IFSC, Smithfield, Grand Canal Dock
Purpose-built student
Purpose-built blocks serving the city's universities and colleges, where demand for beds is high.
Where: The Liberties, Grangegorman, Dorset Street
Build to rent
Large professionally managed rental schemes, including State-backed cost-rental homes.
Where: North Docklands, Sandyford, Poolbeg
Hotels & hospitality
Historic hotels in Georgian streets and new builds serving a busy visitor economy.
Where: St Stephen's Green, Temple Bar, Docklands
Retail & mixed use
Shops at street level with offices or homes above, often in older buildings.
Where: Grafton Street, Henry Street, Dame Street
Heritage & civic
Protected Georgian, civic and church buildings that need specialist care.
Where: Merrion Square, College Green, O'Connell Street
Leisure & stadia
Major venues with large-span roofs and complex façades.
Where: Croke Park, Aviva Stadium, North Wall Quay
Current construction trends
Where Dublin is building now
Attention is on new apartments, a long-awaited metro line and repairing defective homes from the boom years.
MetroLink
Cabinet approved taking the 19km metro from Swords to Charlemont to tender in September 2026. Enabling works are due to start in 2027, with tunnelling likely from 2028.
Parkgate Pointe, Heuston
A 30-storey tower opposite Heuston Station is set to become Ireland's tallest building. The Land Development Agency scheme of 562 cost-rental homes is due to finish in late 2029.
Poolbeg West
Plans for the former Irish Glass Bottle site call for 3,800 homes. The first phase is complete, 586 more homes won permission in February 2026, and plans for 1,510 apartments were lodged in June.
Apartment building
Dublin completed 9,623 apartments in 2025, about 70% of all its new homes and nearly 80% of apartments built across Ireland.
Defective apartment repairs
Up to 100,000 apartments and duplexes built in Ireland between 1991 and 2013 may have fire safety, structural or water ingress defects. The Government is legislating for a State-funded repair scheme.
Heritage reuse and retrofit
Living City Initiative tax relief, extended to the end of 2027, supports the refurbishment of older buildings in the historic centre and brings Georgian façades back into use.
How we help in Dublin
Every era of building has its own risks
We match our inspections and advice to the age and construction of your building.
Georgian, Victorian & Edwardian stone, brick and terracottac.1750–1930
Weathered stone, failed pointing and mortar, corroding iron fixings and water ingress through older details.
Post-war concrete and system buildsc.1950–1990
Spalling concrete, corroded reinforcement, ageing windows and poor thermal performance.
Curtain walls, rainscreen and high-rise residentialc.1990–2018
Leaking seals and gaskets, combustible cladding and insulation, and missing cavity barriers.
New build and conversionstoday
Design and specification gaps, workmanship defects and building regulations compliance.
See how we have helped building owners and managing agents in Liverpool, Manchester, London, Belfast and beyond.
View our case studies →FAQs
Façade services in Dublin
Can you investigate fire safety and water ingress defects in Dublin apartments?
Yes. We carry out façade condition surveys, defect and water ingress investigations and external wall fire risk reviews for owners' management companies, landlords and investors. Our reports help owners plan repairs, including on blocks built between 1991 and 2013.
How quickly can you respond to an enquiry in Dublin?
We work across Dublin and the rest of Ireland. We aim to respond to new enquiries within one working day, and we arrange site visits and access to suit your programme.
Can you survey Georgian buildings and protected structures?
Yes. We inspect brick, granite, limestone and cast-iron façades and recommend repairs that suit the building's age, construction and protected status.
Which other services do you offer in Dublin?
Technical due diligence for buyers, lenders and investors, and remediation project management to take repairs from survey through to completion.
Work with us
Own or manage a building in Dublin?
We provide façade condition surveys, defect and water ingress investigations, external wall fire reviews and remediation project management across Dublin and Ireland.
Photographs: Ebun Oluwole and Carlos Torres on Unsplash.