My son and I arrived in Dublin after driving through fog and sleet on the motorway from Galway, and the warm glow of lights emanating from The Gibson Hotel’s glass-cube façade was a welcome sight on a dreary late-winter afternoon. With its innovative design and original Irish modern art in the guestrooms and public spaces, The Gibson is just one of dozens of new designer-driven buildings that border the River Liffey in the revitalized district of east Dublin known as Docklands.

Dublin is most often associated with literary greats — Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw come to mind — as well as the musical group U2 and the lively pubs along Temple Bar, the friendly but raucous two-block pedestrian street where Guinness is the name that gets attention. But the city’s real star attraction these days is the 1,300-acre Docklands district, an urban renewal project developed by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority that includes public squares, office buildings, river bridges, mixed-use warehouse conversions and riverside walkways.

Dublin, along with the rest of Ireland, began to take off economically during the “Celtic Tiger” period of the 1990s, when young Irish expats returned in droves, obtaining lucrative employment in the new wave of financial and high-tech firms opening offices and production factories in Dublin and the nearby Irish countryside. But the epic financial collapse, which started in 1998 and took several years to cripple Ireland’s economy, shook the country to its core. A few dozen new buildings, paid for by funds already set aside under the 1997 Docklands Development Authority Act, opened in the district from 2007 to 2010, helping solidify this massive project. These new financial headquarters and banks, theaters and art galleries, hotels and high-end residential flats and a post-modern convention center — many designed by well-known international architects — attracted worldwide city planners and architecture tourists to this new, glittering Dublin neighborhood even as the rest of Ireland was living under government austerity measures.

For my son and me — we love to explore rehabilitated and, yes, gentrified urban areas — Docklands is the mother lode. A 19th-century ship-loading center for livestock, the former site of a smelly fertilizer plant and once a dumping ground for city sewage, Docklands is now a stunning urban renewal project. On the north bank of the River Liffey is the post-modern Convention Centre Dublin, designed by Irish architect Kevin Roche. The 2010 building appears as an overturned glass drum or, as some say, a bottle of Guinness leaning against a concrete box, but the view from inside the building of the Santiago Calatrava-designed Samuel Beckett Bridge and the city skyline puts everything into perspective. Roche, a Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, was born in Dublin but moved to the United States in 1948, where his designs for One United Nations Plaza and the Ford Foundation building in New York City moved him into the top tier of world architects. The Convention Centre Dublin is the first carbon-neutral convention center in the world and Roche’s first architectural commission in Ireland.

On the south bank of the river, on Grand Canal Square, we admired Daniel Libeskind’s dazzling 2010 Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, named after one of Ireland’s largest energy suppliers. It has a sharply angled, stainless steel and glass façade, inviting pedestrians on the square to gaze into the brilliantly lit interior lobby on performance evenings. Grand Canal Square itself, built in 2007, is the centerpiece of the Docklands district. Designed by the American firm Martha Schwartz Partners, it is located at the west end of Grand Canal Dock and is a playful and colorful paved square with a cascading marble fountain and a series of tall, angled, glowing red light sticks that give the site an amazing vibrancy.

As sports fans, my son and I took a special interest in the spectacular curvilinear Aviva Stadium, constructed in 2010 as part of the redevelopment of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, a historic sports landmark from 1872 in the Ballsbridge neighborhood. Lansdowne was the oldest sports stadium in Europe before being demolished in 2007 to make way for the new stadium. Designed by the international firm Populous and the Dublin-based company Scott Tallon Walker, the transparent, shingled skin of the stadium was visible from our hotel room in Docklands, so we walked there one day to join a public tour of the facility. Usually used for Irish rugby and football (soccer), it was the setting for the September American football game between Navy and Notre Dame.

These were the last major building projects to be completed in Docklands as the Irish economy began its slow recovery. We noticed that several construction projects had been temporarily suspended. Tall cranes stood motionless on the horizon; and blue tarps, flapping incessantly in the wind, covered many roofs and empty windows. We wondered when, if ever, these impending projects would be completed.

Recent announcements, however, indicate that financial optimism is beginning to reappear in Dublin. Google, which opened an office on Barrow Street in 2004, and Facebook, which runs its European headquarters from a Docklands office building, both say they plan to expand their physical space in the area. Along with the presence of LinkedIn, Zynga and dozens of other large and small Internet firms, the once-decaying Docklands area — nicknamed Silicon Docks — is regaining its energy and relevance. In addition, the long-awaited completion of the city’s newest deluxe hotel, The Marker, on Grand Canal Square, was finally announced this summer, with a planned opening in April 2013.

Although we found plenty of architectural eye candy among the new buildings and public spaces in Docklands, several art galleries in the area offer exciting venues to see contemporary Irish art, including the Green on Red Gallery and The Loft Gallery, both on Lombard Street East. Another enjoyable activity is The Spirit of Docklands, an all-weather, glass-roofed boat operated from March to October by Liffey River Cruises. An interesting, 45-minute cruise along the river provides a narration of Dublin historical events and views of the new Docklands buildings and bridges.

Thanks to Dublinbikes, there are now 44 bicycle stations around the city where customers use credit cards to unlock bikes, dropping them off at other stations according to the route or hours purchased. During several days of walking and biking, my son and I covered all of Docklands and several neighborhoods in central Dublin.

The entire Docklands project is a wonderful example of a forward-looking, inner-city environment that manages to meld Dublin’s cultural, business and residential interests into one cohesive neighborhood. But with its proximity to the gritty neighborhoods of north Dublin and the still-tough port area just beyond its eastern boundary, the district maintains enough character, narrow alleys and windswept street corners so that no one will mistake the glowing light sticks on Grand Canal Square or Calatrava’s magical white bridge for Disney World.

Info To Go

The three-mile Dublin Port Tunnel has shortened driving time from Dublin Airport to city center by avoiding traffic congestion on local streets. The trip from the airport to downtown takes 20 to 30 minutes via frequent Airlink bus service ($7.50) or taxi ($25–30). Major car rental firms have airport counters. Docklands is minutes from city center and is served by an extensive public transport network, including intercity train, commuter train (DART), Dublin Bus services and a light rail network (LUAS).

Lodging

Dylan Hotel

The family-owned, 5-star boutique hotel in a restored Victorian building has 44 guestrooms, high-tech amenities and an excellent restaurant and bar.

Eastmoreland Place $$$–$$$$

The Gibson Hotel

This eclectically designed hotel has a bar and restaurant overlooking the trendy O2 amphitheater and a new light rail stop nearby. Point Village, North Wall Quay, Docklands $$–$$$

The Merion Hotel

Composed of several historic Georgian townhouses in a fashionable neighborhood, the 5-star property includes the Tethra Spa and 2-Michelin-starred Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud. Upper Merrion Street $$$$

Dining

Ely Bar & Brasserie, IFSC

Enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks in a 200-year-old converted Docklands tobacco and wine warehouse; the menu features locally sourced produce and organic items. Irish Financial Services Centre $$–$$$

L. Muligan Grocer

The restored Irish pub offers a friendly atmosphere; gourmet sausages, fish and lamb; and a large selection of craft beer and whiskey. 18 Stoneybatter $$–$$$

Thornton’s Restaurant

Irish chef Kevin Thornton maintains his Michelin star with creative presentations of locally grown produce; lunch and dinner tasting menus are available. The Fitzwilliam Hotel, 128 St. Stephen’s Green $$$$

Weblinks

Aviva Stadium
Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
The Convention Centre Dublin
Dublinbikes
Dublin Docklands Development Authority
Dublin Tourism
Green on Red Gallery
Liffey River Cruises
Tourism Ireland