RTÉ’s AMBITIOUS plans to redevelop its Donnybrook site are designed to steel the national broadcaster for what one of its senior officials called “the tsunami of change descending upon us”.
Rejecting any suggestion that it is a vanity project unsuited to these recessionary times, he said Project 2025 was essential to equip the State-owned radio and television stations for fundamental changes in broadcasting technology.
RTÉ will lodge a planning application with Dublin City Council on Friday seeking a 10-year permission for an entirely new radio and television centre on the 31-acre Montrose site that will ultimately replace all of its existing facilities there.
The new, more concentrated complex – designed by Scott Tallon Walker (STW), architects of the original buildings – would be built in five phases at the northern end of the site, closer to Donnybrook church, with access from Stillorgan Road.
Rising to an overall height of almost 26m (88ft) on its frontage to the dual-carriageway, the complex would taper down to 10.4m (34 ft) facing the long rear gardens of houses along Nutley Road and screened by mature trees.
Gradually, existing buildings on the RTÉ site would be vacated, including the television centre (1961), the administration building (1969), the radio centre (1975), the library building (1994) and the more recent canteen and sports buildings.
Ronnie Tallon, who heads STW, won the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) gold medal for the television centre. It was also included in a worldwide compendium, 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die, published in 2007.
The book, edited by Mark Irving, noted that construction began as Ireland emerged from the 1950s and “asserted a new optimism in Irish life”. It also praised the campus layout of the RTÉ complex, saying that this gave it “a pleasing village intimacy”.
Under the latest plan, the entire southern end of the site where most of the existing buildings are located would be freed for redevelopment, most likely for a cluster of media production and related high-tech companies as well as a residential element.
But RTÉ’s chief financial officer Conor Hayes stressed that this land, some 15 acres, would not be sold. “It’s based on the premise that you rent the family silver, rather than sell it,” he said. Thus, it would be up to others to decide on the issue of demolition.
Because of the demands of digital and high-definition (HD) television, as well as the need to continue producing programmes, he said renovating the older buildings was not a viable option for RTÉ; neither was “moving to a warehouse on the M50”.
“We’re not able to modify existing studios for high-definition television production,” Mr Hayes said. “HD represents a huge threat if we were to continue producing at a lesser quality, so we have to meet this tremendous challenge to compete.”
RTÉ is seeking to have the Montrose site rezoned from Z15 (institutional) to Z10 (mixed development), to provide security for the substantial amount of money it will need to borrow to finance construction of the new complex over several years.
“We’re telling the city fathers that we’re passionately committed to staying on in Donnybrook,” Mr Hayes said. He also expected that the council would seek some planning gain in return for a zoning change, such as opening part of the site as a public park.
Paul Silke, RTÉ’s project manager, said the new complex would be the most energy efficient in Ireland, compared to the existing buildings, which “consume as much electricity as the city of Kilkenny”. It would have green roofs, sun-shading and triple-glazing.
"The first three phases are all production, including new HD television and radio studios plus all the support facilities," he said. The largest TV studio would have a capacity of 450, compared to just 220 at present, even for The Late Late Show.
Altogether, the complex would provide 46,450 sq m (500,000 sq ft) of floorspace – roughly the same as the existing buildings. It would also have a 250-seat auditorium, suspended in an atrium, and an entrance plaza that could be used for outdoor concerts.
“We’re conscious that we’re making a statement,” said Kevin Dawson, head of communications. “This has been seven years in gestation and it will be seven years before the first phase is completed. If you don’t plan in a downturn, you won’t be ready for the upturn.”