Waterford City and County Council are seeking to create a technological office building and exhibition space which showcases the Waterford City’s entrepreneurial use of data, with lettable spaces for project teams, enhancing Waterford and the South-East region.
The existing Munster Express building will be integrated with a newly constructed three-storey building along Hanover Street with the main public entrance from O’Connell Street.
The ground floor will accommodate public access with flexible multi-purpose exhibition/lecture space, a multi-storey atrium space connecting all levels, meeting rooms and ancillary services.
It's proposed that the first floor will accommodate flexible format data/computer labs and workshops with control room and ancillary meeting/service areas.
The second floor will accommodate offices and meeting rooms with ancillary spaces, while the roof area will accommodate a terrace, environmental sensors, and renewable energy
technologies.
No.37, Merchant’s Quay, will still have the ability to function as an autonomous commercial unit. The flexible office space will allow individuals and organisations to establish workspaces onsite when developing ideas and testing information. The primary objective of the project is to harness data generated by the City and Region in the areas of environment, transport,
enterprise, education, and governance and assess this information to inform the decision making process to create better outcomes for the City and Region.
"Locating the facility along Hanover Street, Merchant’s Quay and O’Connell Street provides very positive regenerative characteristics at the centre of the developing Waterford Cultural Quarter", say Waterford Council.
Works are expected to progress in the third quarter of 2024, and construction will take in the region of 20 months before completion - meaning the amenities are most likely to be in place midway through 2026.
