Ireland’s first Center Parcs
5 Nov 2015
Holder Mathias has been selected to design Ireland’s first Center Parcs.
Building on its award-winning work for Center Parcs Woburn Forest, leading architect Holder Mathias has been commissioned to design the new centre buildings at Longford Forest in Co Longford, the first Center Parcs in Ireland.
The Cardiff-based design team responsible for Center Parcs Whinfell Forest and the £95m centre buildings at Woburn Forest are developing a new, contemporary design for centre buildings in the 375 acre site near Ballymahon in the Irish Midlands ready for a planning application in October.
The centre buildings will include a ‘Subtropical Swimming Paradise’, sports hall, bowling, restaurants, bars and shops, all overlooking a 3.5 hectare lake set in the heart of the forest together with an Aqua Sana, Center Parcs’ unique spa experience.
Holder Mathias’s design concept for Center Parcs Woburn Forest centre buildings created an emotionally warm and tactile architectural environment that engages guests as soon as they arrive; this ethos is carried through in Longford Forest within a crisp, contemporary design.
Peter Gamble, Senior Partner at Holder Mathias, said: “Center Parcs is a much loved holiday concept that continues to be as popular as ever, and we are pleased to be leading the design of the heart of its first resort in Ireland. This exciting project builds on our experience at Woburn Forest, winner of the 2015 Best Hotel & Resort MIPIM Award in Cannes earlier this year.”