Fingal’s €40m Culture House Fingal will be a meeting house for everyone

Ten months after construction commenced, the €40m centre-piece of the Swords Cultural Quarter is taking shape and is on schedule to open its doors in 2027. 

Culture House Fingal is an innovative initiative by Fingal County Council which will see a library, theatre, gallery, maker space, arts spaces and a café all housed in an iconic building designed by award-winning architects O’Donnell and Twomey.

Located beside Swords Castle in the centre of the North Dublin town, the large 5,683m2 four storey high building is currently being constructed by Duggan Brothers who are also building 36 new homes on Seatown Road across the road from the new Culture House. 

Fingal councillors were given a presentation at the June monthly meeting of the Council by County Architect Fionnuala May and Ciarán Ó Gaora of Zero-G who explained the reasoning behind the decision to create a Culture House for Fingal.

“We want this to be a confident expression of the future, and we are seeing that come to pass,” Ó Gaora told councillors. “This building reflects the history and it reflects the future.”

He said that Fingal was following a European tradition where many cities have a Culture House and added: “They understand that many different activities can exist under the one roof.” 

By calling the building Culture House or Áras Cultúir, the Council was indicating that it would be a welcoming and accessible place using a name that could be understood by everybody, he stated.

“Ultimately this is about a meeting house for everyone, that’s how we want to talk about it. It’s an everyday open house, it is not some ivory tower,” said Ó Gaora.

“In Fingal, culture is all around us, every day, everywhere. It’s what’s brings us together. It’s what makes us stand out. Because in Fingal we have a culture of learning and playing. A culture of imagination and wonder. A culture of making and doing, of being and belonging.”

The official launch of Culture House Fingal will take place on Culture Night, Friday, September 19, and will include the latest updates on plans for the new building from the Arts Office and Library Service.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom O’Leary, said: “Culture House will be a beacon for everybody in the county. It will provide the community with a state-of-the-art county library and archive, a theatre and a gallery space all under the one roof in the centre in Swords, the county’s capital town.” 

The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “The construction of  Culture House Fingal in Swords is a major flagship project for Fingal County Council which the majority of the funding coming from our own reserves in addition to a grant of €3m from the Department of Rural and Community Development. It will be a key building within the Swords Cultural Quarter. The project is progressing well so we are now beginning to focus on how it will operate and how it can be a facility enjoyed by everybody in Fingal.”

A video of the presentation to Councillors is available for viewing on fingal.ie