Open House Dublin 2026 - Grangegorman Events

The GDA is delighted to be a supporter of Open House Dublin again this year! 

Presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation, Open House Dublin is the free festival of architecture with 200+ events taking place across the city and county, 10–18 October 2026.

This year the focus of the festival is Dublin Is Living, championing the people and places, communities and cultures, architecture and design that together shape the past, present and future of this great city and county.

The full festival programme is available at openhousedublin.com

What's on in Grangegorman?

Between GDA and TU Dublin, there's more to discover than ever before at this year’s Open House - with 7 different events on in Grangegorman, including 14 tours, 2 exhibitions and a drawing session - this is Grangegorman's biggest Open House offering to date!

1. Grangegorman Walking Tours 

The Grangegorman Development Agency presents a walking tour of the Grangegorman site; stopping along the way to take in all aspects of this major social and urban renewal project of 30ha of publicly-owned land; revealing a new part of Dublin’s north inner city.

Date: Saturday 17 October

Times: 11am / 12pm / 1pm / 2pm

Book Here - Grangegorman Walking Tours

2. Grangegorman Clock Tower Tours 

Join the Grangegorman Development Agency for special one-off tours of the historic Clock Tower Building in Grangegorman.

The building began as The Richmond Penitentiary, officially opening in 1820. Since then, it’s been use as a cholera hospital, a transportation depot, again as a hospital for typhoid and beriberi outbreaks and finally, subsumed into primarily administration use for St Brendan’s Hospital before falling into disuse prior to Grangegorman’s redevelopment.

Date: Saturday 17 October

Times: 11:30am / 12:30pm / 1:30pm

Book Here - Grangegorman Clock Tower Tours

3. 20 Years of Development: Grangegorman in Aerials 

Explore the redevelopment of the Grangegorman site as you’ve never seen it before! This exhibition takes visitors through 20 years of site transformation via a series of aerial photos of the site.

Date: Saturday 17 October

Time: 11am-2pm

No booking required - this is a drop in event 

4. Sensory Mapping: Site-responsive Drawing Session

Join artist and researcher Renata Pekowska for this drawing session, which invites the participants to respond with mark making to the sensory presences within the space of the vacant Church of Ireland building located within the TU Dublin Grangegorman campus.

Date: Saturday 17 October

Time: 2pm

Book Here - Site-responsive Drawing Session

5. Academic Hub Tours

Join TU Dublin for a tour of the newly opened Academic Hub and Library - a world-class destination for learning, collaboration and community at the heart of Grangegorman. Designed to support students, staff and the wider public, the Academic Hub & Library provides inspiring spaces for study, discovery, connection and engagement.

Date: Saturday 17 October

Times: 10am / 11am / 12pm

Book Here - Academic Hub Tours

6. Lower House Tours 

Join TU Dublin on a tour of the Lower House, previously The Richmond Lunatic Asylum which opened to patients in 1814/15. Designed by Francis Johnston, it became the largest psychiatric hospital in Ireland. The building was re-opened as a fully restored University building in 2021. The tour will encompass a walk from the entrance space, through to the refurbished rooms and spaces.

Date: Saturday 17 October

Times: 10am / 11am / 12pm

Book Here - Lower House Tours 

7. Central Quad Tours

The tour will incorporate a walk around some of the main spaces in the new Central Quad, which is the largest building on the Grangegorman campus at ~ 36,000m2 and home to 6,500 students & 400 staff.

Date: Saturday 17 October

Times: 10am / 11am / 12pm

Book Here - Central Quad Tours