FACTFILE - Merton Hall

Address: Mount St. Anne's, Milltown, Dublin 6

No of units: 65

Type of units: One and two-bedroom apartments and penthouses

Sizes and prices: 524 sq ft one-bedroom units from £195,000 (247,600); 759 to 1,620 sq ft two-bedroom units from £254,000 (323,720); 589 to 1,620 sq ft one and two-bedroom penthouses from £240,000 (364,740)

Features: Expensive Siematic kitchens with all appliances included; well-fitted bathrooms with power showers; floor-to-ceiling timber-framed windows; bright decked atrium area; balconies with all apartments and penthouse roof gardens

Architect: O'Mahony Pike

Developer: Park Developments

Selling agent: HOK Residential

Viewing times: Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday from 12 noon to 5 p.m. and weekdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The launch takes place this weekend of a design-conscious new block of 65 apartments at Park Development's Mount St Anne's site at Milltown, Dublin 6.

Prices start at £195,000 for one-bedroom apartments and from £255,000 for two-bedroom units. A number of penthouses with one and two bedrooms are available from £240,000.

HOK Residential will be taking bookings at the Merton Hall show apartments from 11 a.m. on Saturday. One-bed apartments from 524 sq ft to 654 sq ft cost from £195,000 (E;247,600). Two-bedroom units averaging 800 sq ft range from £254,950 (E;323,720) and up to £330,000 (E;419,010) for one spectacular two-bedroom corner apartment.

One and two-bedroom penthouses priced from £240,000 (E;304,740) to £850,000 (E;1,015,790) include eight choice units with private roof gardens.

There will be 488 apartments and townhouses on the 18-acre Mount St Anne development when it is completed. The current phase is expected to be ready to move into within weeks.

Prices for the larger units at Merton Hall compare favourably to the previous phase - Milltown Hall. This block proved a sell-out last November, with an impressive interior specification attracting widespread interest.

Last November, 550 sq ft one-bedroom apartments started at £185,000 (E;234,900) compared with the lowest price of £195,000 (E;247,600) for one-beds on the new block. Two-bed units of 900 sq ft were larger than two-beds in the new block, but cost £10,000 (E;12,700) more a year ago.

Representatives of top British agency Savills flew over last week to view first-hand the design of the new block which, according to HOK's Ronan O'Driscoll, is "unparalleled in this country".

Steel, brushed aluminium, glass and natural timber combine with spare cream-painted walls to create a very unusual futuristic look. At the heart of the complex is a tall glass atrium with exposed steel girders and cedar-decked floors, lavishly planted with tropical plants. Timber and glass bridges link the east and west-facing sections of the block.

The curved sandstone building is arranged around four acres of landscaped gardens, with tall deciduous trees spreading across the lawn. To the rear, the site looks out on Alexandra College playing fields and the trees bordering Merton Avenue.

The bright central atrium is furnished with narrow-ribbed cedar decking and mature indoor planting. East and west-facing apartments are linked by timber and glass bridges.

Standard features in all apartments are expensive Siematic kitchens with a full range of electrical appliances and tiling included. Bathrooms are particularly impressive, with hidden plumbing, granite-topped vanity units and power showers.

There are 17 one-bedroom units from £195,000 (E;247,600), with a bright open-plan sitting/diningroom/kitchen area with floor-to-ceiling pine-framed windows.

Very smart kitchens have exterior windows and a paved balcony off the sittingroom has a modern glass and steel balustrade. The double bedroom has fitted wardrobes and a large en suite.

Forty two-bedroom apartments from 800 sq ft and priced from £254,000 (E;323,720) vary in size and shape, with a study/guest bedroom in five of the larger units. Like the one-bed units, interior specification is high, with very stylish kitchen and bathroom fittings and good wardrobe provision. The kitchens have glass-block windows looking out on the atrium area.

Sittingrooms have large balconies off and a second balcony links the two double bedrooms. In larger units, there is a bright study with windows on three walls, which is large enough to be used as a third bedroom.

Eight penthouses start at £240,000 (E;304,740) for the 589 sq ft one-bedroom units, going up to £800,000 for one spectacular penthouse of 1,620 sq ft with a huge roof garden.

All the penthouses come with landscaped roof gardens, accessed across a bridge over the atrium and separated by picket fencing and laurel hedges. Parking is underground, with one free space per unit.