More About Blanchardstown
History
Blanchardstown Centre has its genesis in 1972 when
Dublin County Council adopted a development plan which provided for the
development of three town centres to the West of Dublin, one of these
being at Blanchardstown. In the years since the infrastructure has been
put in place to provide efficient access to the Blanchardstown area and
it's new Town Centre.
Innovative Design
"Blanchardstown Centre is designed for shoppers.
Its layout is aimed at clarity and ease of orientation. It offers a pleasant,
naturally lit space, high standards of finishes, lighting, convenience
and sophistication"
Achievements
Blanchardstown Centre was opened on October 16th
1996 by An Taoiseach, Mr. John Bruton. The Centre opened on time, within
budget and a very high level of finishes was achieved. 92% of retail units
were trading on opening day. The Centre is fully let, it is trading well
and is achieving strong customer loyalty. Shopper reaction to the environment
and mix of tenants was instantly favourable and retailers have achieved
levels of trade far in excess of their original expectations. The Centre is
now valued at over 300 million Euros and turnover is approximately 1 billion Euros per annum.
In the first year of operation, the Centre attracted
10 million visitors. The PR launch campaign won the coveted PRCA Award
for "Excellence in Communications". Since then the Centre has
won BCSC established Centre award and a Purple Apple award from BCSC for it's staging of Shaun Davey's orchestral
work "The Pilgrim" narrated by Ben Kingsley. Also a Solal Marketing
award from the International Council of Shopping Centres and The FBD Shopping Centre of the Year Award 2006.
Blanchardstown is now regarded as the highest growth
region in terms of industrial, commercial and residential projects.
Developments
Apart from its core-shopping element Blanchardstown
Centre has been notable for a number of ground breaking initiatives, primarily
the development of nearly 300,000 (amend to include Retail Park 3) square feet of retail warehousing. It
is acknowledged amongst property professionals that this retail warehousing
is the forerunner of its type in Ireland.
A Medical Centre and Service Centre containing a Credit
Union and Post Office among other customer facilities also opened in November
1998.
The Leisureplex Entertainment Centre including bowling
alleys and a licensed restaurant opened in September 1997.
Fingal County Council library and local offices opened in 2001.
With the benefit of a free site and financial contributions
from Green Property Ltd and the EU, the local Arts Committee opened the
Community Arts block & Theatre "Draoicht" in 2001.
Green Property Ltd have also donated an Oratory, which
opened in March 1998.
Penneys store, opened 16th October 2001.
Latest Developments: Retail Park 1, 2, & 3 and Red Mall extension opened in 2004.
As we move forward, we are aware that the retailers and
the visitors have been paramount to the success that Blanchardstown
Centre has achieved to date. Green Property Ltd, its design team and Centre
Management knows that this will also be true of the future. We welcome
the challenges that lie ahead and look forward to continuing our positive
response to visitor demands.
Points of Information
- Architects - A & D Wejchert
- 4th October 1994, construction started
- 26-month project/ finished in 24 months and under budget
- 2,000 construction and development workers
- 2 acres of glass
- 41,000 trees, shrubs & plants landscaped the 107-acre site
- Entire shop frontage equated to Grafton Street
- Building area 72,000m² 8 lifts, 6 escalators, 2
travelators and 21 staircases 6,000 tonnes of structural steel, roof 30,000m²,
800,000 bricks, 1 million concrete blocks, 260,000 paving bricks, 89,000m²
of tarmacadam, 4,000m² of roof glass, 10 miles of drains, 8 miles
of ducts and 4,500 drawings.