Bartra gets green light for high-rise office scheme in Dublin

Developer Richard Barrett’s company Bartra has secured the green light for a new 200,000 sq ft high-rise office scheme at the Boston Sidings site in Dublin’s docklands.

Dublin City Council has granted planning permission for the 10-storey development in Dublin’s Silicon Docks in spite of a number of objections.

Bartra is developing the site at Grand Canal Quay and Macken Street in Dublin 2 in conjunction with site owner CIÉ.

The council gave the development the go-ahead after concluding it “will upgrade one of the most prominent locations in the city, contribute to the animation of the area and will allow for the construction of a striking and innovative contemporary/modern office building in an inner city location proximate to public transport and other amenities”.

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The council said “the proposal exhibits a distinctive contemporary design which will make a positive contribution to the subject site and Dublin’s urban fabric”.

The council’s report also found that given the poor condition of the existing under-utilised subject site, “the development of the proposed large scale office scheme is a significant upgrading of the subject site and is unlikely to have a detrimental visual impact”.

The council also concluded that the proposed development “would not seriously injure existing buildings or the surrounding location”.

Contributions

One of the 17 conditions attached to the permission require Bartra to pay the Council €1.49 million in development contributions.

One of those to object to the planning application was Clanwilliam Management CLG which owns property to the southeast of the application site.

Consultants stated that Clanwilliam has serious concerns over the impact of the scale, mass and bulk of the proposed building on the existing amenities of the area.

The submission was one of more than 15 objections lodged and the consultants state that the proposed development could have an impact on the future development potential of adjoining sites as the proposed scheme represents a dominant structure at 10 storeys over basement “which is in stark contrast to the adjoining buildings which are mostly small, two-storey structures”.

The objection stated: “As it currently stands, the design and height of the proposed structure would have a significant impact on the existing skyline as it currently dominates an environment which is sensitive to large scale and tall buildings.”