Dundrum Town Centre

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
Dundrum town centre (Dundrum South entrance)
LocationDundrum, Dublin, Ireland
Coordinates53°17′10″N 6°14′30″W
AddressDundrum Town Centre
Sandyford Road
Opening date3 March 2005
OwnerHammerson and Allianz
ArchitectBurke - Kennedy Doyle Architects, Dublin, Ireland
No. of stores and services160
No. of anchor tenants5
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 floors4 (main levels)
Parking3,000[3]
Public transit accessLuas Green Line (Balally / Dundrum)
Dublin Bus routes 14, 44, 44B
Go-Ahead Ireland routes 75, 175
Websitedundrum.ie

History

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.

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.

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]

2011 flood

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]

Name

"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.

Tenants and customer footfall

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.

Public transport

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 routes 75 and 175.

Media
RTÉ studio in Dundrum Town 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, and used to broadcast advertising and other programming.[18]

Interior of Dundrum Town Centre

Awards

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]

References
  1. "Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin". Hammerson Engage. Retrieved 10 June 2023. 111,484 size (Sq m) / 18 million (annual footfall) / 94 mins (Average Dwell Time)
  2. "Dundrum Town Centre welcomes the biggest Lush in Ireland". Hammerson. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  3. Nevin, Emma (18 October 2022). "Stephen's Green Shopping Centre has highest hourly rate while two remain free". DublinLive. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  4. "Dundrum - A New Era". Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
  5. "Dundrum Town Centre's Awards". Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  6. Farrell, Sean (8 July 2016). "Hammerson pays £1bn for Ireland's largest shopping centre". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  7. Cassisy, Luke (25 October 2011). "Dundrum flooding response criticised". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  8. "A village becomes a town with Dundrum's new centre". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  9. "Centre Map - Dundrum Town Centre". www.dundrum.ie. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  10. "Ladies Fashion | Dundrum Town Centre". www.dundrum.ie. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  11. "Dine in Dublin | Dundrum Town Centre". www.dundrum.ie. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  12. "Krispy Kreme". www.dundrum.ie. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  13. "Bowling alley set to open at Dundrum Town Centre". 27 February 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. "The best tours & ice rinks around Ireland this Christmas". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  15. "Dundrum On Ice, ice skating on real ice in Dundrum Town Centre". Dundrum On Ice. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  16. "New Penneys store in Dundrum Town Centre will be 'third largest in Ireland'". Independent.ie. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  17. "Dunnes Stores to open at Dundrum Town Centre". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  18. "RTÉ Television Sales - DTV". tvsales.rte.ie. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010.
  19. "2011 News Archive - Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council". Dlrcoco.ie. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  20. "Shopping Centre of the Year 2009". Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  21. "News & Events | Dundrum Town Centre". Dundrum.ie. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
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