Existing Thomas Street Frontage

The success of the ‘Shopfront Improvement Scheme’, piloted in 2015 by Dublin City Council, has seen the scheme expand to a wider area in 2016. The scheme offers incentives to businesses and property owners on Thomas Street and Cornmarket to upgrade their frontages. A total of 11 projects have been funded under the scheme in 2015, a number of which are now complete. The scheme provides for up to 50% of the cost of a shopfront refurbishment, depending on the work proposed, with a maximum allowable contribution of €3,000 per applicant.

Dublin City Architects Division provided practical support to South Central Area Office in implementing the pilot scheme by meeting applicants, talking through proposed works, advising on best approaches and referring applicants to the planning process as necessary. In certain cases, visualisations were produced to highlight the possibilities of the property to its tenant/owner (see image below).

Proposed Improvements under ‘Shopfront Improvement Scheme’

A simple guide to Getting the Best From Your Shopfront is available here. The guide looks at some of the positive things that can be done to enhance your street presence. Further reading can be found in Dublin Civic Trust’s excellent report on ‘Thomas Street; Improving the Public Face of an Historic City Centre Street’ which is available here.

For further details on the Shopfront Improvement Scheme and to register interest in the 2016 round of incentives, please email stephen@libertiesdublin.ie.