A RANGE of developments are underway across Cork city with new hospital buildings, student apartments, a bridge, office blocks and a new courthouse all under construction or set to begin work in the coming months.

As more and more cranes take to the Cork skies, the developments across the city are set to further alter the Cork skyline.

One of the first major developments to reach completion is Cork’s new criminal courthouse replacing the existing district courthouse on Anglesea Street.

It will mean that all criminal cases both at district and circuit court level will be handled in Anglesea Street and civil cases handled in Washington Street court house.

It is envisaged that the Washington St courthouse complex, refurbished in recent years at a cost of €25m, will mainly handle civil actions.

Student apartments will make up a significant number of Cork city developments over the coming years.

Construction is already underway at the former Esso Filling Station on Western Road, between the River Lee Hotel and University College Cork.

UK company Ziggurat is building a €75m block for up to 200 apartments, with Cork company Bam carrying out the building work.

Ziggurat has long-term plans to provide 1,000 student beds in Cork over the next four years.

Another student apartment development is planned for the former Coca-Cola bottling site on the Carrigrohane Straight Road. Planning permission has been granted for 92 apartments and work recently took place to demolish and clear the site in preparation for construction.

Demolition work begins this month on Albert Quay, to make way for the €90m Navigation Square office development.

Navigation Square will be a 310,000 square foot office complex at Albert Quay East, located between the Sextant and Idle Hour pubs.

The development will be capable of hosting some 3,000 employees when fully occupied and will create 350 construction jobs.

It will consist of four separate buildings to be built on a 2.25-acre site bounded by Albert Quay to the north, Victoria Road, Albert Road and Albert Street.

It is not just accommodation that is in the pipeline for Cork.

The City Council is proposing a new bridge to cross the north channel of the river Lee.

Design work is currently underway on the €3m bridge that will connect Merchant’s Quay to Patrick’s Quay at Harley Street, which runs alongside the Metropole Hotel.

The aim of the bridge is to create a better connection between Patrick’s Quay, MacCurtain Street, and Kent Station with the city centre.

It also forms part of the long-term Cork City Centre Movement Strategy that will eventually see private cars removed from Patrick Street during the day and MacCurtain Street reverting to a one-way system.