The Daintree in Dublin 8 is the city's latest eco-friendly address, says Emma Cullinan
When Solearth Ecological Architecture was asked to build apartments just off Camden Street, in Dublin 8, the brief was to create an oasis in the city, and they have delivered just that.
Now the seven one and two-bed Daintree apartments, in Pleasants Place, are for sale through Felicity Fox and range in price from €425,000 to €875,000.
These apartments occupy the spot where Daintree first opened its hand-made paper store in Pleasants Place.
It then moved its shop to front onto Camden Street and began organising this apartment scheme to the rear in 1999.
The building's design has stayed true to the company's ethos, being as tactile and characterful as each sheet of pulpy petal and leaf infused paper.
Solearth Ecological Architecture didn't just design one or two prototypes and repeat them throughout the scheme. Every single apartment is different: offering various shapes of rooms, terraces of all sizes and differing floor levels.
Some of the apartments are organised along corridors while others have rooms running off a central core.
The interior and exterior of the building follow each other with the internal spaces expressed in the external form, for instance, in a little sleeping nook where the roof slopes inwards on the Pleasants Place side.
The building also wears its ecological credentials in the design.
This is a tactile, warm scheme, with lime render; slatted timber; bamboo balustrades; copper copings, verges, guttering and downpipes; and a curved roof covered in sedum (small, rubbery plants).
Internally the apartments have wide plank reclaimed pine flooring, white ceramic bathware with sleek chrome taps and shower heads, and the kitchen in the show apartment follows current trends with its glossy white finish.
Those buying into this scheme will be able to choose their own finishes throughout. The finishes so far have been in ecological paints and varnishes, giving the apartments that faint lemony scent.
Sick building syndrome shouldn't be a problem for those living here, as the emphasis throughout has been on natural ventilation and finishes.
Much of the heating and hot water will be supplied at very low cost through the solar panels on the roof and geothermal heat pumped up from the ground. There is also gas as a back up when the weather is consistently cold.
As well as these active heating devices, care has been taken to design for passive solar gain, in the size and orientation of the windows.
Each apartment has been orientated to attract in natural light and some of the bathrooms are lit through solar tubes which bring light in from the roof.
The three-storey over basement building, which has a masonry base and timber framed upper section, is insulated with sheep's wool, timber, cellulose, rubber and cork.
The L-shaped building encloses a courtyard with bike sheds and recycling areas - known here as the "green gantry" - which look positively jungly, with generous sticks of bamboo protruding from the roofs in a sculptural display.
On the opposite side of the courtyard there will be a café and bakery, making this a social hub during the day.
In an endorsement of its own scheme, Daintree will have offices in the basement, while the architects have also moved into an office here.
No doubt residents will be tempted to go in and consult them about issues involving their apartments!
There are two one-bedroom apartments in the scheme, selling at €425,000 and €495,000, and five two-bed apartments: two of these will cost €635,000, while the other three will sell for €665,000, €845,000 and €875,000.
With a relatively small number of apartments, in a forward-thinking, friendly looking scheme, this probably will become a pleasant community on Pleasants Place.
