The recipe for successful long-term city centre living requires several key ingredients, lots of light and a private outside space to call your own. This means somewhere near the action but quiet enough to hear the birds sing on weekend mornings, and with a private patio or balcony that gets the sun.
In Dublin 8, a top-floor, two-bedroom apartment in the Daintree Building offers all of the above.
When it was completed in 2005, this bespoke multi-storey timber structure, with a green roof and breathable timber walls lined with sheep wool insulation, won an SEAI Sustainable Energy Award for its creators, Sole Earth architects.
Located on Pleasants Place, a side street off Pleasants Street in the Camden Quarter, the low-rise block contains just 12 units and utilises the sun’s energy through solar thermal panels and the earth’s warmth through a geo-thermal heat pump to heat its centralised heating system. Back in 2005, this was all rather revolutionary. Heating and hot water is included in the annual service charge which is €3,200 for each unit.
The addition of the Cake Cafe into the space at ground level only added to its appeal allowing residents to literally nip downstairs for brunch at weekends.
Sixteen years later and while the cedar cladding has weathered to grey, the units in this walk-up building remain in demand.
The top-floor, two-bed extends to 80sq m (861 sq ft) and is set out over several levels. From the entrance hall a set of steps takes you up to a hallway that leads to its open-plan living area which has the kitchen and small island on one side, newly installed by the current owners when they bought it in 2017 for €469,000, according to the property price register. They also changed the floors to a wood-effect ceramic tile, an idea that is carried out to the terrace.
They also put in the folding glass panels that lead from the lounge to the property’s real selling point, a large suntrap that extends to over 18sq m (194sq ft) and faces east but also gets southerly light. It gets so much direct sunlight that the current owners installed an awning to throw some shade over this valuable feature.
There is a second small terrace off the lounge that faces south. It is the size of many standard 1990s apartment balconies and there is room here for a small bistro set.
The couple added new carpets to the accommodation, two good-size doubles, that are up another level and accessed via a trio of steps where the bathroom, which has a separate shower and bath, is also located.
The C2 Ber-rated apartment is seeking €520,000 through agent Owen Reilly. Last July number 7, a unit of 82sq m (883sq ft) and also on the top floor with a separate kitchen and living room and similar-sized terrace, sold for €498,000. It had sold the year previous for €440,000, according to the property price register.
