The bank had planned to commission a building designed by Sir John Soane to be constructed on the site bounded by Westmoreland Street, Fleet Street, College Street and D'Olier Street (now occupied by the Westin Hotel). However, the project was cancelled following the Act of Union in 1800, when the newly defunct Parliament House was bought by Bank of Ireland in 1803. The former Parliament House continues today as a working branch. Today, visitors can still view the impressive Irish House of Lords chamber within the old headquarters building. The Oireachtas, the modern parliament of the Republic of Ireland, is now housed in Leinster House in Dublin. In 2011, the Irish Government set out proposals to acquire the building as a venue for the state to use as a cultural venue.