Central Bank spent €130,000 on artistic light fitting for HQ

The light fitting in the Central Bank’s new HQ, which cost €130,000

Source: Irish Times.

The Central Bank has spent €130,000 on a light fitting for its plush new €140m headquarters on Dublin’s North Wall Quay.

Acclaimed artist Niamh Barry has designed the functional art piece, which is located in the reception area of the HQ and is available for all visitors to the Central Bank to view.

Along with the light fitting, as part of the planning conditions, the Central Bank is currently in a procurement process for a separate artwork in the north east corner of the North Wall Quay site.

A spokeswoman for the Central Bank said yesterday that the cost of the light fitting was “in the region of €130,000 plus VAT. This is an estimated cost as the bill of works from the main contractor was not itemised as the contractor was engaged on a total price contract.”

The Central Bank also pointed out that there was a requirement with all large public infrastructure projects to include an artistic work of value in the respective schemes.

A graduate of NCAD, Ms Barry sculpts with light and metal and has exhibited her work widely in New York, San Francisco, Mexico, Switzerland, London and Dublin, while a book was recently published on her work.

The latest figures from the Central Bank detailing the spend on the project show that €127m was spent on the project to the end of March this year. The detailed breakdown shows €2.26m was spent on “meeting room furniture and loose furniture”.

Meanwhile, €2,000 was spent on the transport of the ‘Dublin Landings Building Model’ along with €108,000 being paid to Tricon for ‘catering design services’.

An additional €46,000 was spent on the transfer of contents of buildings, while another €5,000 was spent on bike racks.

The main contractor, Walls Construction, was paid €71m – while the security spend prior to Walls commencing work was €302,000 and paid to Netwatch.

Architectural firm HJ Lyons has been paid €4m in relation to the project.

In addition to Ms Barry’s light fitting and the planned artwork for the north east of the site, the Central Bank bought a piece of art entitled ‘Contemporary Ruin’ by Brian Maguire.

This work depicted the North Wall Quay site where the unfinished Anglo Irish Bank headquarters was located before work commenced on the Central Bank. It cost €995.

Irish Independent