Sandyford

Dublin, Ireland

Set within a generously landscaped green campus environment, the distinctive character and presence of the Osborne+Co proposal for Citi at Sandyford Central are unrivalled.

Located in a prime, visible, and highly accessible location in the heart of the premier business district of South Dublin, the vision for the proposed Citi building is one that captures the extraordinary developments, both technical and human demands, that have evolved in workplace design over recent years.

The pandemic has accelerated these changes, and the timely approach by Citi to relocate its headquarters has triggered an unprecedented opportunity to create the ideal ‘workplace of the future’ for Citi Ireland.

Green in both a biophilic environment and sustainable construction methods, this building will boast the highest sustainability accreditation standards, including BREEAM and Net Zero whole-life carbon.

Project summary

GDV: £100m

Project type: Commercial building in mixed-use development

Total sq footage: 280,000 ft²

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Concept, creatives & experiences

Almost all organisations are planning for a future which integrates the possibility of a hybrid working model. The purpose of the workplace is shifting away from traditional focused work and towards remote working, leaving the workplace to become a meeting, collaborative, learning and social contact environment.

The digital industrial revolution we are going through will utilise technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning to make many knowledge worker tasks redundant. This is driven by a new generation of ‘creatives’, whose expectations of the workplace are unlike previous generations of workers.

An opportunity exists here to shape the building and its spaces to support how Citi works; spaces promote shared ownership and heighten their experience. The office is increasingly less about being a container of desks – it is an ‘experience supercharger’.

Design approach

A simple rectangular form within which an endless variety of possibilities exist. The building is optimised for daylight, views, and environmental comfort with a rectangular shape and a highly efficient design.

A central street forges a physical connection between the main entrance lobby and the market hall restaurant on the ground floor. Opportunity exists to provide a wide variety of workplace settings, amenities and support spaces, town hall, flexible conference and auditorium facilities rarely seen or possible in more confined developments in the city.

The building’s southerly orientation provides a connection between the inside and outside. A large sun terrace opens off the marketplace restaurant providing further valuable amenities and work choices to the arrangement. The generous campus landscape facilitates outdoor working.

Site plan

The project is part of a phased mixed-use development with offices, a school and an institutional building set around a central campus-style landscaped green space.

The site is part of the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Green Infrastructure Strategy, which sets out a spatial framework to develop Green strategies in the County. The site will link the city and the Dublin mountains, merging the city’s built environment with open space and nature.

The proposals respond to the Sandyford Urban Framework Plan (2011-2016 and 2016-2022), highlighting the importance of building interfaces with public spaces, surfaces, entrances, street frontages and landscaping.