New Developments in Galway City

[Jammyd]

Hi guys just found these pictures of the new CityPoint on Prospect Hill, any views?

[rob mc]

oh not more of that green sh*t,its everywhere!!

[Jammyd]

Hi Guys also found some sort of Picture of the HOPEFULLY soon to be redeveloped Galway Shopping Centre, its a bit hard to Imagine anything like this in the area at present, hopefully Galway city council will stop dragging there heels and the Developers the NRA and the Council can start cracking on with it,

http://www.harcourtdevelopments.com/ click in shopping centres and Galway Shopping Centre

[shiloh]

2 interesting letters in the City Tribune today, concerning the Council's refusal of the Taaffes development due to the Seveso regulations....

Dear Editor

I am writing in response to the refusal of Galway City Council to allow the development of Ms Una Taaffe’s former shop on William St.

As I understand the situation nobody who owns a business within a certain distance of the oil tanks at the Docks may now alter their premises, redevelop it or God forbid, build on any site nearby. Does this not make the City Centre redundant? If so its a shocking position for Ireland’s third city.

Does the Council not realise that in invoking the Seveso regulations, introduced after the Buncefield Terminal disaster they have practically put their own planning office out of business, or at the very least lessened their workload substantially?

As there have been many questionable initiatives in the past by our good burghers, perhaps the Council could follow the trend and now fund an initiative that would move the entire city north, by say 200 m, and so out of range of any explosion.

This may lessen the damage were our indigenous oil tanks to go the way of their English cousins


Second one:


I am flabbergasted by the recent decision of the Galway City Planning Office to reject the proposed redevelopment of the derelict Taaffe’s Shop on William Street, as outlined in your cover story of the 4th April last. In doing so they have signed a death warrant for the City Centre!

In recent years Galway has fallen behind other cities in Ireland in the quality of retail and the retail experience offered to its residents. Nowhere is this more evident than in what should be the thriving heart of the City. While the City’s medieval streets and buildings may contribute to its charm, retailers find such configurations problematic. This is evidenced to the degree that many retailers have opened and closed in bewildering numbers in recent years, unable to operate or reach financial minimums in shop units more suited to the 17th than the 21st Century. The absence of larger shops has meant the influx of poor quality retailers in the City Centre and the opening of a plethora of phone shops and coffee outlets. This is to be regretted as the basic necessities of comparison shopping that can be expected in any other town are not to be found here.

In the coming years the City Centre is likely to face increasing challenges particularly if proposed retail developments at the Galway Shopping Centre and on the lands surrounding Ceannt Station get the go-ahead. Is it not the duty of the local business community and its myriad of representative bodies and our local officials to foster the economic development of Galway’s heart? Measured and sustainable development in the City Centre should be encouraged. There are few opportunities in Galway for the larger shop units that national and international retailers now demand. As far as I can see Taaffe’s remains the only one that can fulfil this need. Its development would undoubtedly breathe new life into the area and bring increased numbers of people into Galway’s heart. Instead the exodus of Galway’s shopping public to places such as Athlone, Limerick, Sligo and Dublin will continue unabated as choice cannot be found or expected here at home.

The decision by Galway’s planners to effectively sterilise the City Centre, means that Taaffe’s will continue to stand as a crumbling monument to its increasing stagnation.

[PTB]

oh not more of that green sh*t,its everywhere!!

Yeah that seems to be ubiquitous in Galway. Much more so than anywhere else.

What you dont get a sense of from the sections of the cimema is how spiky the building is inside. de Paor is continuing his current penchant for jagged plans. Looks really interesting to be honest.

[BTH]

Here's another image of that City Point development on Prospect Hill - looks much more promising in this one - the black stone would look quite striking I think and in this scenario the pre patinated copper would work. it's grand when it's being used sparingly on roofs etc. or when it's done with a bit of flair like on GMIT but when it's just tokenistically plastered on a building as wallpaper as in the building down at the claddagh or used in stupidly inappropriate places like the kiosks in Eyre Sq it becomes a problem....

[Jammyd]

Check out this new Site, Pretty impressed myself! http://www.gluas.com/

[johnglas]

I can understand your impatience with the ubiquity of patinated copper, but it's just a fad, like many other fads, e.g. exposed concrete, unpainted galvanised metal, acres of glass cladding and flat-roofed, boxy house extensions. Much of architecture - at any period - is fashion and what is touted as 'cutting edge' (whatever that means) is actually just the latest trend. So, there's a lot more patinated copper to come until people get tired of it and go on to something else like titanium (no, sorry, that's been done) - and it's still better as a surface material than exposed concrete, especially in this climate.

[Stevie]

New apartments in Doughuisce.

[Stevie]

Sorry about the size ....

[Jammyd]

Hi Guys Just found these Pics of The HOPEFULLY soon to be approved and redeveloped Galway Shopping Centre on The Headford Rd, http://www.lsharch.co.uk/portfolio_retail_mixed_gal.htm the Architects involved seem to have a lot of experience in these sort of major redecelopments, i personally hope for Galway citys sake this plan is approved asap especially in the current economic climate and the fact the city is starting to have retail spending leakage to smaller centres such as Athlone recently.

[Jammyd]

Hope these come out Bigger!


No joy im afraid but you can see them better at http://www.lsharch.co.uk/portfolio_retail_mixed_gal.htm

[cgcsb]

Does anyone know if the Ceannt Station Quarter Developement is going ahead?

[Jammyd]

As far as I know the plan will move ahead once the oil depots have been fully moved to there new location further down the docks and the current ones are demolished, this is gonna happen in the next few months as they have to be down before the Volvo yacht race in May 2009

[cgcsb]

Great to hear IÉ taking somw initiative for a change. I really hope they introduce Double tracking between Ceannt and Athenry. A single track wouldn't have a hope in hell of accomidating Commuter services to Athenry and intercity services to Dublin and Limerick

[Jammyd]

http://www.crownsquare.ie/index.htm also heres a look at the new crown development. looks great,

[rob mc]

yea i passed the crown development the other day,i had heard about a year back but never knew it had been approved,it looks like they already have the groundwork down!!

[Jammyd]

yea i passed the crown development the other day,i had heard about a year back but never knew it had been approved,it looks like they already have the groundwork down!!

bit dissapointed from the website looks like its gonna be Homebase that anchors the development.. my hopes of Galway getting an Ikea seem dashed

[PVC King]

bit dissapointed from the website looks like its gonna be Homebase that anchors the development.. my hopes of Galway getting an Ikea seem dashed

Only another 1.2m people to add to reach their primary retail catchment floor. For a retail park it looks quite good; the architects job on Festival Place Basingstoke is an interesting project as it involved the remodeling of a failed 1960's planned town type scheme (bizarely dropped into the centre of quite a pleasant market town) into a hugely successful covered shopping centre that attracts a footfall of 350,000 per week which is impressive for a town of 90,000 people.


Any updates on the Ceannt Station project?

[dave123]

Only another 1.2m people to add to reach their primary retail catchment floor. For a retail park it looks quite good; the architects job on Festival Place Basingstoke is an interesting project as it involved the remodeling of a failed 1960's planned town type scheme (bizarely dropped into the centre of quite a pleasant market town) into a hugely successful covered shopping centre that attracts a footfall of 350,000 per week which is impressive for a town of 90,000 people.


Any updates on the Ceannt Station project?

Galway has 72,000 in total.. not 90,000. a bit of an exaggeration.

[BTH]

I believe the 90,000 is referring to Basingstoke...

[galwayrush]

Galway has 72,000 in total.. not 90,000. a bit of an exaggeration.

It's approx 102,000 within a 15 KM radius of the city.
Still a small place though.

[rob mc]

UP TO 1,000 jobs will be created by the new look €200 million Galway Shopping Centre when it is completed within the next five years.

Work on the massive project — which will see the size of the centre quadruple — is expected to begin early in the New Year, with the developers keen to begin as soon as possible.

The redevelopment plan for the centre is set to be given planning permission following a vote by city councillors last Monday in favour of rezoning land to accommodate a new entrance.

The entire four-phase project should be completed by 2013, with the first phase expected to be completed in 2010. And according to the project’s backers, Harcourt Developments, the construction phases will create around 250 to 300 jobs.

In a letter to councillors, Harcourt’s Director of Group Operations Conal Harvey asked that the rezoning be passed so that the development “can proceed as soon as possible”.

“The total projected investment in the project is in the order of €200m over a four to five year period, with construction employment running at 250 to 300 people. When the entire centre is completed, employment will grow by an additional 1,000 jobs,” he said.

This week, councillors voted 12-2 in favour of a Material Contravention of the City Development Plan to rezone land on the Sean Mulvoy Road (owned by Hibernians Football Club) to make way for a new entrance to the shopping centre.

The access roadway from the Sean Mulvoy Road will be 70 metres in length, and according to planners, the development will result in an overall improvement of the access roads, including junction changes and better use for pedestrians, cyclists and buses.

The Council’s Director of Services for Planning, Tom Connell, advised members to accept the recommendations being made by the Council’s executive, adding that it was “a vote of confidence that such an investment is to be made in the city”. :D:D:D:D

Before
http://www.harcourtdevelopments.com/images/galway.jpg

After
http://www.galwaynews.ie/sites/files/galwaynews/imagecache/Main/sites/files/galwaynews/images/x4_New_look_Shopping_Centre.jpg

[Chris_533976]

Fantastic. Lets make the Galway Shopping Centre, which is located at the Terryland Roundabout, the biggest bottleneck in the city, four times its current size. Yes, that'll be a good idea, all that extra traffic will make getting across the city EVEN MORE FUN.

Good grief why couldnt this wait till the Outer Bypass had at least been started?

[rob mc]

Good point that has to be the busiest road in Galway!!

It would have been a better idea to either have waited for the outer by-pass,or to have just built it outside the city!!