The Diageo-owned Guinness Storehouse has officially opened the new Gravity Bar. Developed over three years, with over 175,000 man hours and an almost €20 million investment, the bar has more than doubled in size, offering visitors wider panoramic views which now include the Phoenix Park and new vistas over the Dublin Mountains.
The bar’s footprint is now constructed as a figure of eight, designed to give visitors better views of the city skyline. The new bar is 721 square metres and can host up to 500 people at a time. Since its opening in 2000, Gravity Bar, which stands at 46m high, has hosted high such profile guests as Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to Bill Clinton, Tom Cruise and Kylie Minogue visiting, and, more recently, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Fifty panes of glass were used to create the view. The architects behind the bar’s redesign, RKD, also led the first development of the Guinness Storehouse 20 years ago, transforming it from a derelict grain store into an iconic seven-storey building which has become Ireland’s top tourist attraction. O’Donnell O’Neill were the interior designers.
Dublin-based street artist Aches was commissioned to create the art which features on four walls throughout the bar. The artworks point to the evolving creativity of Dublin city and the history of Guinness. With 1.7m visits to the Storehouse every year, it will make Aches’ creations one of the country’s most viewed artworks.
Facts about the Gravity Bar
- It took 175,000 man hours to build the new bar
- 16 months were spent building the new panoramic bar
- 600 people worked on the project, including architects, engineers, builders and tradesmen
- The bar is as tall as 300 pints of Guinness
- 50 panes of glass were used in creating the 360 degree panoramic view
- 230 square meters of glass were hoisted up to the viewing deck
- Gravity Bar is 46 meters off the ground
- It would take 110,000 pints of Guinness to fill the bar
