Nolan's of Clontarf
Mixed-use redevelopment of a family-run Clontarf institution on Vernon Avenue
Nolan's of Clontarf is the redevelopment of a much-loved family business that has been at the heart of Clontarf for generations. Founded by Paddy and Una Nolan in 1958 and now run by their son Richard, Nolan's is a Family Grocer with a reputation built on the highest quality fresh food and an exceptional, neighbourly standard of service — a reputation the new building has been designed to reflect and reinforce.
Led on the client side by Richard Nolan, working closely with DSA, the project reimagines the supermarket and its Vernon Avenue frontage as a coherent piece of village-scale mixed use — independent shops and a café at street level, apartments on the upper levels, and a generously expanded supermarket sheltered behind a new external concourse and canopy.
A Clontarf Institution Since 1958
The Nolan family have been serving the Clontarf community for more than sixty years. Paddy and Una Nolan started the business in East Wall before moving to Vernon Avenue in 1958, and over the decades grew it from a small grocer into a destination food shop with its own bakery, butchery, deli, fish counter, fruit and veg, artisan range, wine and beer hall, and the in-store Bistro 49 café.
Richard joined his parents in the shop at the age of fourteen and full-time from 1975, and his brother Paul has run the adjoining hardware shop since 1980. The business's defining promise has always been the same — finest-quality Irish food, excellence in fresh produce, and friendly, knowledgeable staff — and that promise sets the brief for the building.
A New Frontage for Vernon Avenue
The houses that previously addressed Vernon Avenue have been removed and replaced with a new parade of mixed-use buildings — independent shops, a café with outdoor seating, and apartments on the upper levels. The frontage is broken into a rhythm of distinct units rather than reading as a single block, supporting independent retailers and giving the street the variety and grain that make a village feel like a village.
The new architecture is unmistakeably contemporary but is calibrated to the scale, materiality and proportion of the surrounding Clontarf streetscape.
A Building That Reflects the Business
The brief, in Richard Nolan's words, was for a store "that Clontarf could be proud of". The architecture takes its cue from the standards Nolan's set inside the shop — careful selection, attention to detail, generosity to the customer — and translates them into a building that feels equally considered.
Materials are robust and warm; the public spaces are unhurried; the new concourse provides a sheltered, dignified arrival in any weather. Every move is in service of the same idea: that the best small businesses deserve a building that signals their quality from the street
The Expanded Supermarket
Behind the new Vernon Avenue frontage, the original Nolan's supermarket has been redesigned and significantly expanded. A new sheltered external concourse and canopy mark the entrance and provide a generous transitional space between street and store — a quiet but important upgrade to how people arrive, gather and meet on the way in and out.
The interior was reorganised around a generous central layout that supports the specialist departments the shop is known for and that has continued to serve the community well in the years since.
Open Throughout Construction
A defining constraint of the project was that the supermarket had to remain open and trading throughout construction. DSA worked with the contractor and the Nolan team to phase the works so that customers could shop without interruption and staff could keep doing their jobs while the building rebuilt around them.
The newly expanded and refurbished shop was completed shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic — and the generous internal layout subsequently provided a safe and comfortable environment for shoppers and staff during a period when that mattered more than anyone could have anticipated.
Client
Location
Business
Use Mix
Typology
Key Feature
Programme
Services Provided
Status
Nolan family — Richard Nolan, project lead
49 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3
Family Grocer since 1958 — bakery, butchery, deli, fish, fruit & veg, artisan, wine & beer, and Bistro 49 café
Expanded supermarket, independent shops, café with outdoor seating, apartments
Mixed-use redevelopment with new Vernon Avenue frontage
New sheltered external concourse and canopy to the expanded supermarket
Supermarket remained open and trading throughout construction
Feasibility, Planning, Design, Tender, Construction-Stage Architecture, Assigned Certifier
Completed shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic; in continuous operation since
