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A planning application submitted to Dublin City Council proposes converting the vacant former Ulster Bank at 130 Baggot Street Lower into a hotel and hospitality complex. The scheme would restore the protected building and link it with neighbouring properties on Pembroke Street Lower to create new guest and public spaces.
Project overview
The development aims to deliver a 37‑bedroom hotel combining the conserved bank structure with redevelopment across 33 to 37 Pembroke Street Lower. Plans show restaurant, bar and guest amenity spaces organised between the retained historic building and a new extension to the rear.
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Part of the proposal involves demolishing the buildings at numbers 34–37 — a move that, the application notes, had been granted permission under an earlier planning consent — and replacing them with a modern six‑storey block over basement that would form the hotel extension.
Heritage, design and impact testing
The application emphasises conservation. It proposes to reuse the protected bank building rather than replace it, retaining key internal and external features where possible.
To explain the scheme, the applicant engaged 3D Design Bureau to produce verified view montages, aerial and presentation photomontages, and a Daylight and Sunlight Assessment. Those studies are presented as tools to show how the restored structure and new build would sit within the existing townscape and to evaluate likely effects on neighbouring properties.
Internal layout and public spaces
Inside the former banking hall, designers propose a licensed restaurant and bar with seating for around 93 people. The bank’s original basement vaults are earmarked as a more intimate, atmospheric bar for approximately 36 patrons.
The hotel would be entered from Pembroke Street Lower. Beyond the bedrooms, the scheme includes a private residents’ lounge, a spa, a lifestyle concierge service and gym and wellness facilities. A café is also planned at ground-floor level within the refurbished 33 Pembroke Street Lower.
Works on 33 Pembroke Street Lower
At number 33, the proposal calls for refurbishment and a change of use of the existing building, which currently accommodates retail and various wellness, therapy and consultancy uses. The plans would remove later, non-original return structures to the rear and replace them with a new extension of mixed height — part single-storey, part three-storey — to accommodate additional hotel functions.
If approved, the project would combine heritage restoration with new construction to increase hospitality capacity in this part of central Dublin. The application is now with Dublin City Council for consideration.
