An Taisce opposes plans for Dublin whiskey building

A heritage group has described plans to build an office block on the site of a 19th century Jameson whiskey warehouse in Dublin as “deceptively presented” and “grossly excessive”.

An Taisce has lodged an appeal with An Bórd Pleanála to block a decision by Dublin City Council to allow the Smithfield project go ahead after locals objected to the plans.

The development will be spearheaded by Linders of Smithfield and, if given permission, will see the current Irish Distillers Building partly demolished to make way for a structure between four and seven floors in height which will accommodate office, retail and restaurant space over 20,500 sq m.

The current building – a 1970s redevelopment which acted as the headquarters of Irish Distillers until 2009, has two storeys of office space, but still retains many original features of the 19th century warehouse.

The Linders group previously applied in 2011 to demolish the building in its entirety and replace it with a new development but this was rejected by Dublin City Council. The new proposal seeks to incorporate elements of the original design such as the exterior stonework.

Impact

In an architectural impact statement submitted to the council, historic buildings consultant

David Slattery

, on behalf of Linders, contended that the warehouse, which was used to store whiskey casks, is of “no particular historic significance” and is not a protected structure.

However, an appeal letter from Kevin Duff of An Taisce's Dublin City Association, described the plan to construct additional office space on the site as "gross overdevelopment" .

“The proposed development is excessively scaled and massed and would only add to the incoherence of Smithfield,” he said, adding that the extra floors would lead to overshadowing of apartment dwellers in nearby Smithfield Village.

Smithfield Village Ltd, which owns a nearby apartment complex, is also a party to the An Bórd Pleanála case which will be decided by November 21st.