Irish Wastewater Treatment Plant Sets New Standard For Sustainable Civic Infrastructure

Wastewater treatment facilities are typically recognizable by their brutalist aesthetic: angular, gray expanses of concrete, adorned with steel walkways and stairs. However, the Clancy Moore-designed wastewater treatment plant in Arklow, Wicklow County, Ireland, bucks that trend.

The Guardian mused that the €139M facility, whose design was partially inspired by the Sydney Opera House, might be the world’s most beautiful sewage treatment plant, dubbing it the “Cathedral of Crap.”

But form still follows function: the new plant boasts “an initial treatment capacity of 24,000 population equivalent (PE), scalable to 36,000 [three times the town’s current population] through modular upgrades,” states a post by Ayesa, an engineering consultant on the project. “Beyond regulatory compliance, the facility supports a growing population, strengthens flood resilience, and represents a major investment in the long-term health and wellbeing of the local community.”