In an article titled ‘Eastern Rising’ , Business and Finance Magazine of the 18th May 2006 asserts, ‘the gates are open to Eastern Europe’.
This piece by Mikey Stafford describes MOLA’s long involvement and track record in the region:
“Murray O'Laoire Architects made a commitment to the region as long ago as 1992 when they dived into the chaotic atmosphere of post soviet Moscow…
Due to their well established presence in the region [They] are well versed in the business climates of Central and Eastern European countries... through their offices in Moscow, Krakow, not to mention their newly opened Bratislava base, Murray O'Laoire Architects has a sizeable presence in the emerging markets of the CEE - a logical step following the architecture firm’s success in Moscow."
The article also quotes MOLA Director Calbhac O’Carroll who described how MOLA were pioneers in the region:
"When the wall came down in 1992 a group of Limerick businessmen began to explore Moscow through the Aeroflot link from Shannon.
Very quickly, Moscow became dominated by Irish businesses, they were almost the first in.
We started to go along as well through our Limerick office... We landed a big job and took it from there...
Having figured out Moscow, as it were, we decided to grow in Europe generally... We’re doing a lot of mixed use projects, where you combine retail, office, leisure, and in some cases, new city squares and parks - we’re making pieces of cities. That’s what we are doing in Bratislava. We have a 500 metre development along the banks of the Danube. The first phase now is primarily retail and office, the next stage is primarily residential...
We're making a long term commitment to that whole region. We are doing projects in Prague and Budapest as well, we will initially manage them from Bratislava, but it may come to the point where we will have to consider a Prague office. We are certainly going to take a good long 10 to 15-year view, and a good part of our future will be based in that region."