Grand Canal Square is the public heart of the new Docklands, a striking civic space designed by the American landscape architect Martha Schwartz. Its red carpet of resin paving is studded with glowing angled light sticks that march down to the water's edge, while a band of green polygonal planters runs alongside, lit a cool blue after dark.
The square is framed by Daniel Libeskind's faceted Bord Gais Energy Theatre and a cluster of cafes and restaurants, and it opens onto the Grand Canal Dock basin where kayakers and paddleboarders take to the water in summer. It makes a lively waterside stop and a good place to sit out with a coffee away from the tourist crowds of the old centre.