 Dundrum town centre (Dundrum South entrance) | |
 | |
| Location | Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°17′10″N 6°14′30″W / 53.28611°N 6.24167°W |
| Address | Dundrum Town Centre Sandyford Road |
| Opening date | 3 March 2005 |
| Owner | Hammerson and Allianz |
| Architect | Burke - Kennedy Doyle Architects, Dublin, Ireland |
| No. of stores and services | 160 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | (Retail floor space) 111,484 m2 (1,200,000 sq ft)[1] (Total floor space) 140,000 m2 (1,500,000 sq ft)[2] |
| No. of floors | 4 (main levels) |
| Parking | 3,000[3] |
| Public transit access | Luas Green Line (Balally / Dundrum) Dublin Bus routes 14, 44, 44B Go-Ahead Ireland route L25 |
| Website | dundrum |
Dundrum Town Centre is a shopping centre located in Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland's largest[1] shopping centre with over 169 tenants, retail floor space of 111,484 m2 (1,200,000 sq ft)[1] and almost 140,000 m2 (1,500,000 sq ft) total floor space,[2] and over 3,000 car parking spaces.[3] It is located just south of the centre of the suburban village of Dundrum, within the wider eponymous area. It has annual footfall in excess of 18 million.[1]
Dundrum Town Centre was built on the site of the former Pye television factory, later the site of an entertainment and bowling centre called Dundrum Bowl. In 1993, the Dundrum Bowl was closed due to flooding.[citation needed]
The shopping centre was opened on 3 March 2005. Over 5,000[4] people queued in the main square. Within 3 years, over 70 million people visited Dundrum Town Centre.[5]
The centre has been extended in phases and is divided into various districts. It is divided into areas its management labels "districts" - the "Gallery", located in the main building, "Pembroke", around the Mill Pond feature, and "Dundrum South", located outside the main Tesco overground car park.[citation needed]
In July 2016, the UK commercial property firm Hammerson bought control of Dundrum from Allianz for a reported £1.01 billion, and will own it jointly with Allianz Real Estate.[6]
Dundrum Town Centre was evacuated shortly before 8pm on 24 October 2011 after floodwaters surged through the doors. The owner of a Mexican restaurant in the complex said five feet of water had rushed down steps towards his business, causing thousands of euro worth of damage.[7]
"Dundrum Town Centre" was originally a local government term, defined by Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council, before the shopping centre was built. It was described as "the area between the Luas line, the Dundrum Relief Road, the Taney Road / Upper Churchtown Road junction, and the Wyckham By-Pass Route. It is mainly zoned for "town centre" uses, but with some parts zoned residential." The shopping centre was built under the provisions of the Urban Structure Plan for the Dundrum Town Centre zone.
The name Dundrum Shopping Centre referred to an older, smaller, shopping centre off Main Street in Dundrum, which is still open, and home to Lidl, Dealz, Mulveys of Dundrum. Following many years of decay, efforts have been made to revamp this area and it is now known as Dundrum Village Centre.
Dundrum Town Centre contains a range of retail, restaurant and entertainment tenants, many stores being the first in Ireland and flagship locations.[8]
The centre consists of multiple districts, including the 'main mall' where most retail units reside across four main floors, 'Dundrum South' where Elverys Sports, and TK Maxx are located, the 'Pembroke District' where there is a range of food and beverage options, and 'Town centre square', where the millpond is located, which puts on a notable acrobatic water display [9]
Retail stores include Tesco Ireland, Marks and Spencer, Brown Thomas, H&M, Next, Harvey Nichols, Gap, Golden Discs, Hollister Co., Penney's, JD Sports, Nike, Superdry,TAG Heuer, L'Occitane en Provence, Bershka, Calvin Klein , and Zara.[10]
Food and drink include over 40 offerings such as McDonald's, Nando's, Milano's, Butlers, Jamie's Italian, Five Guys, Wagamama, Siam Thai and 2 Starbucks.[11] There is also a food court on level 3. There are also further food vendors in Town Centre including a Krispy Kreme.[12]
Entertainment includes a Movies@ cinema, Mill Theatre Dundrum, and an Indoor Crazy golf centre. There are also plans to open a new 8 lane bowling alley, as part of an expansion of the 'Pembroke District' of the centre .[13] A temporary ice-skating rink is operational during some of the Winter months to host ‘Dundrum on Ice’, which starts in October.[14][15] The centre receives footfall of around 18 million annually.[1]
Future developments in the centre include Penneys locating to a new larger unit, taking the upper 2 floors of the former House of Fraser store in June 2023. The new store in Dundrum, will become the third largest in Ireland.[16] Dunnes Stores announced it would open a new store in the former Penneys unit.[17] This new opening will join current food retailers Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Donnybrook Fair that have units in the centre.
The centre is served by the Luas green line, the closest stop is Balally but it is also close to Dundrum stop. It is also served by Dublin Bus routes 14, 44, and 44b and Go-Ahead Ireland route L25. Go-Ahead Ireland formerly had the 75 and 175 serving the centre.
Dublin South FM 93.9 is a local BAI-licensed community based radio station for South Dublin. It started broadcasting in 1995 from the old PYE centre, and also broadcast from Rathfarnham. It now broadcasts from purpose-built new studios in the Dundrum Town Centre. About 60 volunteers produce and broadcast 35 hours of programmes each week. Transition Year students from local schools also get involved, as well as media students.
Communicorp also have a studio in Dundrum Town Centre with 98fm, SPIN 1038, NewsTalk and Today FM regularly broadcasting from it. Today FM's Phil Cawley presents a show from the centre every Sunday from 1–4.
An in-house television channel, "Dundrum Television", was launched by RTÉ in 2005,[citation needed] and used to broadcast advertising and other programming.[18]
In 2011, Dundrum Town Centre was awarded the county's first Ecocert certification.[19]
By the end of 2009, Dundrum Town Centre had won 30 national and international awards since opening.
In 2009, Dundrum Town Centre was awarded "Shopping Centre of the Year" for the third year running at the FBD Retail Excellence Awards, as voted by shopping centre retailers throughout Ireland.[20]
On 27 April 2007, Dundrum Town Centre was named as the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centres) European Shopping Centre of the year for 2007 at their European conference in Warsaw. Shopping Centres throughout Europe were visited and judged as part of a rigorous adjudication system, which had as its criteria: Tenant Mix, Community Integration, Vision, Customer Service Ethos, Management Systems and Sustainability. From an initial list of 24, a short list of 3 was made, from which Dundrum was chosen.[21]