File:The Red Stables are located in St. Annes Park (5693793643).jpg

The Red Stables are located in St. Annes Park, Dublin 3, and were orginally part of the Ardilaun estate, owned by the Guinness family from 1835. In 1939, they were acquired by Dublin Corporation and opened for public use as St. Annes Park. George Ashlin, a 19th-century architect renowned for his ecclesiastical work, such as Cobh Cathedral, designed the stable buildings. He was commissioned by Lord Ardilaun (Guinness) to design both the stable building and Raheny Church in the 1880s. The Stables are in the typical Victorian Sussex style, laid out in a courtyard format, with the stabling being located to the south-east and south-west sides of the courtyard, and the coach house area located to the north-eastern side of the courtyard.

There is a central tower and cupola feature on the south-eastern side of the courtyard. There were hay lofts above the stabling with a clock tower and fumarole to the roof. The facades to the courtyard are all built with local Portmarnock smooth red brick laid in Flemish bond pattern, with patterned terracotta and brick specials forming decorative banding to the elevations.  The windows throughout are of pine with cast iron panels to their top opening sections. All openings in the walls onto the courtyard are similarly detailed with red sandstone lintols and red sandstone cills. The elevations facing the park are of red brickwork to the south-east and south-west, and coursed granite to the north-east side.

The building is a Protected Structure, protected by legislation because of its unique and significant historic and architectural merit. The protection and conservation of all the significant elements of the building complex were critical to the design philosophy adopted for the project, with the principle of “minimum intervention” being central to the developed design. Dublin City Council City Architects Division is an RIAI Accredited Grade 1 Conservation Practice.

A new heating system has been added to the building and all plumbed and wired services renewed. Refurbishment works to the existing building fabric have consisted of replacing damaged materials, and overhauling existing fittings as required, using new materials only where absolutely necessary which matching original materials as closely as possible. The new build kitchen and tea room area has been designed to fit in with the general form of the complex. Although detailed using contemporary materials, such as glass and stainless steel, the extension has minimal impact on the existing built fabric of the stables, and, in fact, enhances what was previously the least attractive part of the original building.