The Irish Times

Bank of Scotland's stylish new HQ complements the Luas terminus and provides a welcome contrast to the dull hotel next door and the tawdriness of the shopping centre. Bank of Scotland set the cat among the comfortable pigeons of the mortgage market here when it established an Irish division to undercut its competitors, becoming the Ryanair of the banking world here. One thing it didn't do, however, was to skimp on its new headquarters. Though the building on St Stephen's Green was developed by the daughters of P V Doyle, it stands as a solid advertisement for Bank of Scotland (Ireland). And the location, beside the Royal College of Surgeons, couldn't be better, especially with the Sandyford Luas terminus right outside. Incredibly, the site had been derelict for 20 years. Much of it was occupied by the Green Cinema, which is fondly remembered by some for the fact that it was the first in Ireland to have double seats - a risqué thing at the time. After it was pulled down, the site briefly served as an illegal car-park.