Work has begun on the revamp of Merchant's Quay Shopping Centre

Work has begun on the revamp of the Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre to change the exterior of the building and add an upstairs licenced restaurant.

Property development company Clarendon owns the building and is upgrading the exterior of both the Patrick’s St and Merchant’s Quay facades.

Permission was also granted earlier this year to change the use of the former Kylemore restaurant on the first floor to a licensed restaurant with a new direct pedestrian entrance from Patrick’s St.

In its application, the company said it wants to create a new large, first-floor window on the corner of Merchant’s Quay and Patrick’s St to open up the views of the river and St Anne’s in Shandon.

Clarendon said it plans to attract a “high-quality” restaurant to the location which is consistent with City Hall plans for a “fusion of shopping, leisure and entertainment” in the main city centre retail area.

“The proposal involves firstly the upgrading of the external elevation of the shopping centre on St Patrick’s St and the corner of Merchant’s Quay. This involves rendering over the brickwork and creating a new window pattern,” the application states.

“A fundamental aspect of the design is the wish to exploit the views of the waterfront and the city centre, in particular, St Anne’s Shandon Church.”

Clarendon is involved in a joint venture with construction company Bam to build a major new hotel and office development alongside Kent Station.

Construction is well under way on the hotel element of the development called HQ.

Once complete, HQ will accommodate 37,000sq m of office space, 237 apartments and the hotel, to be called The Dean.