The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre stands on land that was, until relatively recently, considered too toxic to develop. The site was formerly the territory of the Irish Gas Board, Bord Gáis, bought by Dublin City Council in 1998 for €19 million.

De-toxifying the soil cost another €52 million. The council expected a return of €40 million. By the time the work was done, in 2006, Ireland's property market had peaked, and the land sold for close to €300 million.

Opened in 2012 at a cost of €50 million, the theatre seats 2,111 people, more than any Broadway theatre in New York, and only three venues in Britain hold more. It is the largest theatre in Ireland, capable of hosting West End-scale productions.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours place the theatre in the wider story of the Grand Canal Docks, tracing the area's transformation from industrial wasteland to Ireland's Silicon Valley.