Plan to put Abbey Theatre design to tender approved

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Archiseek / Ireland / News / 2006 / September 8

Current Abbey Theatre

An international competition is now to proceed to find a design for a new Abbey Theatre. Minister for Arts John O'Donoghue announced yesterday that the Government had approved the holding of the architectural competition. The new theatre, which is to be sited at George's Dock in Dublin's docklands, will replace the existing venue in Abbey Street, which is expected to be sold to partly fund the new facility. The new theatre is to be developed on the basis of a public-private partnership arrangement, but the PPP process will not be instigated until after a design has been selected. The building, according to the department, "will be procured by means of a Build/Finance/Maintain (BFM) Public Private Partnership" and will be a "signature development". It will include three performance spaces to accommodate the Abbey and Peacock theatres, and a third multipurpose auditorium, as well as education and outreach facilities, a public archive, a restaurant/bar, improved public areas, disabled access for audiences and artists, and state-of-the-art theatre production facilities.

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