Around the Block: Shrewsbury Road residents face possibility of ‘iceberg house’ ahead

For the mystery buyers of 2 Shrewsbury Road, it seems a house just can't be big enough. In September, a planning application was lodged to nearly triple the size of the existing 604sq m (6,500sq ft) house to just over (1,670sq m) 18,000sq ft. The plan, which included a large new basement level, was not opposed by any local residents – in fact neighbour Paul Coulson submitted a letter that was generally supportive of the application. Permission was granted for this extravagant project on November 5th, and just seven days later the owners lodged a new application seeking to further enlarge the house.

The proposed plans will see the property extended to a staggering 1,951sq m (21,000sq ft). This plan includes not one but two new basement levels, including a car lift to transport cars two storeys below surface to the car park.

The practice of constructing multiple basement levels is common in London, where controversial “iceberg homes” with large, multilevel basements have been popping up around the city’s most expensive boroughs for years.

In Dublin, however, a two- level basement of any description – let alone of this magnitude – is unheard of in a single-home development. If granted, it may possibly become the largest single home in south Dublin, dwarfing Bernard McNamara’s former Ailesbury Road mansion, with 1,487sq m (16,000sq ft).

Other than providing parking for the new owners’ fleet of cars, the basements will also include a 17m (55ft) swimming pool, fitness facilities and, of course, a 91sq m (982sq ft) log store – which is equivalent in size to a standard three-bed Irish semi.

The beneficiaries of Spirithill Nominees, the company that owns the property, have been granted a smooth passage to Dublin city's most expensive residential street, while a planning battle rages on between residents and Yesreb Holdings, the Cypriot-registered owner of nearby Walford.

It will be interesting to see whether Spirithill’s latest application will be supported again – 1,100sq m (11,840sq ft) basement and all – or how neighbours will respond to the introduction to this much-loved street of its first “iceberg home” with a basement larger than the house itself.