A glazed high-rise complex proposed for George's Quay, Dublin, would not be a shimmering crystalline structure but a giant wall blocking summer evening sunshine for up to 1,000 residents, a planning appeal hearing heard yesterday.
Mr Ciaran Cuffe, a Green Party city councillor and architect, told the Bord Pleanala hearing that schools and homes south of the proposed development would be affected by the shadow cast from its 73-metre skyscraper.
The board is considering eight appeals against Dublin Corporation's decision to give permission to Cosgrave Property Group to build offices, shops and apartments on the site across the Liffey from the Custom House.
The corporation granted permission, subject to a reduction of the height of the proposed development to 80 metres. The central office tower as now proposed would be 73.7 metres, and adjoining blocks would also be lower. The tallest building in the area is Liberty Hall which is 60 metres. The Custom House is 39 metres. Dublin Corporation's city architect, Mr Jim Barrett, commended the high quality of the design of the George's Quay scheme by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which he said counteracted "an awful lot of public preconceptions and apprehensions" about high-rise buildings as uniform 1950s tower blocks.
Addressing concerns by residents and the Irish Georgian Society, Mr Barrett said the height of a building was not a problem in itself if it was of good quality.
"If someone suggested building a replica of St Paul's Cathedral in Dublin people would say it would be wonderful and yet it would be three times the height of Liberty Hall," said Mr Barrett.
His view was that a low city wasn't necessarily a good one because of the lack of variety in its skyline and the risk that it would become a sprawl.
Mr Barrett expressed concern over the development's glazed atrium shopping section, which he said should be designed as a covered space, not a closed-in space which might deter the public from entering it. Opening up this space would make it a more enlivened development which the local community could benefit from, he added.
Mr Steve Margolis from the corporation's Environmental Traffic Planning Unit said traffic engineers did not see the development having a significant impact on the local road network. He was in favour of the scheme having half as many parking spaces as apartment units, instead of one per unit.
Mr Brian Hogan, an architect, said the "scale, height and bulk of the proposal was entirely incompatible with the established norms of the Dublin urban landscape which are fundamental to its environmental quality".
He said the overpowering impact of the silhouette of the development on the roof profile and skyline of nearby historic buildings and spaces would "seriously diminish the level of public amenity in their vicinity and irreparably diminish the value of the national heritage".
Earlier, the hearing was told Dublin Corporation was commissioning a high building study.