Law firm's new city offices are where art meets commerce

Visitors to the foyer of nos 26/27 South Mall first encounter a limestone figurative sculpture on a plinth. It is by leading Cork sculptor Michael Quane, RHA.

Near it is a large canvas in oils by Cork painter Tom Climent. And then, the reception desk is itself a stand-out, a sort of Jenga-like assembly done as an early piece by the visionary furniture maker Joseph Walsh, whose latest, sinuous creations can sell for very substantial, six-figure sums.

“He sketched it out within a few minutes after a visit to our old offices at 53 South Mall years ago. I told our architect, Dermot Harrington, it was important that it move from there to our new offices, too,” says JWOD managing partner, Jerome O’Sullivan. Such is Walsh’s reputation now that it’s a ‘part of the office furniture’ piece they might not be able to commission today.

Given the nature of a law firm, with face-to-face dealings with clients vital for trust, the company was always going to want a prime city presence, says Mr O’Sullivan. They had overflow offices close to no 53 for years and the move to a premises twice their old footprint, over three floors, at nos 26/27, allows them to expand.

Current staff is 28, with 15 lawyers plus support, and “we believe if people are coming to work in an office, it should be a pleasant experience”.

The art works, including a series by Limerick’s Martin Finnin: JW O’Donovan’s was lucky to be able to accommodate many of the purchases of the late Charlie Hennessy, who while not focusing on being senior partner at JWOD’s, variously chaired Cork Opera House, the National College of Art and Design, and the International Film Festival, with which he had a 50-year involvement.

Following Mr Hennessy’s death, in 2008 (he bequeathed a choice of an art piece from his private collection to each of his JWOD partners), part of his legacy moved too, from no 53 to nos 26/27 South Mall, with art on three floors.

There’s also an eye on commerce: The boardroom faces no 66 South Mall, the Munster HQ of AIB, and JWOD itself works with private clients, financial institutions, multi-nationals, property developers, local authorities, State bodies, and community organisations.

JWOD moved to the fully refurbished six/seven storey no 27 after agent Margaret Kelleher first sold it for Friends First for c €2.2m to a Dublin/UK-based private investor, who did a full fabric overhaul. Fit-out was then done by specialists DFL, with interior design by Dermot Harrington, of Cook Architects, who comments that “the gallery concept to the reception evolved from JWOD art collection that really wasn’t presented in their old offices”.

DETAILS: jwod.ie