€350m Wexford Harbour Scheme
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15th March 2006
Plans for a €350m mixed shops, hotel and apartment development overlooking Wexford Harbour are about to be submitted by Deerland Construction, headed up by Derry McPhillips.
The Trinity Wharf project will include a 282 bedroom hotel, conference and leisure centre as well as a shopping mall with three anchor stores and 50 other shops.
In addition there will be a six screen cinema and 266 apartments.
Rising in height from two to 14 storeys, the development will take place on a 2.4 hectare site which straddles the Dublin Rosslare railway line at Trinity Wharf, near the Talbot Hotel in Wexford Town.
One of the apartment blocks will incorporate a feature 14 storey landmark tower element with a gym located on the 13th and 14th storeys and a bar restaurant on the ground floor.
Kilkenny-based Deerland Construction is headed by Derry McPhillips and the company currently has other large towncentre and retail development projects in train in Dundalk, Mullingar, New Ross, Waterford and Kilkenny. It also developed and manages the largest shopping centre in Mullingar, the Harbour Place Shopping Centre where the anchor tenant is Dunnes Stores.
Trinity Wharf will have a total enclosed building area of 120,000 sq m. and the plans for the development also include a 1,946 sq m. food court in the shopping mall as well as three restaurant/bars in three of of the six apartment blocks.
The hotel building will range in height from two to 13 storeys and its leisure centre will include a swimming pool.
Bounded on three sides by Wexford Harbour, the overall project will also contain a 1,217 sq m. community hall, a creche and parking for 1,844 cars in a three storey car park over the two storey retail section.
In addition there will also be a five storey office block with 11,233 sq m. of floor space.
Other features of the development will include a riverside walkway, two plazas and a glazed canopy to the Trinity St entrance.
An existing shop at the Trinity Street portion of the site will be demolished to facilitate the construction of a large linkage platform with bridge over the Dublin-Rosslare rail line, thus providing the main entrance to the scheme.
Donal Buckley
Irish IndependentI hope this goes ahead..I used to go to Wexford about twice a year and this would be superb for the town! and Fordes restaurant..mmmm lovely
I hope it goes ahead too, it would be great to bring some life to what is a very bare concrete quayside with some minimal street furniture. Wexfords narrow streets are nice in their own way but this would help alleviate the press of people especially on those sunny summer days!
Any images available, or has anyone seen what the development is to look like? Also, does anyone know who the architects are?
Edit: Architects are Anthony Reddy and Associates
This from today’s IT Property supplement. (Does that say ‘Wexford Town Centre’ on the (ahem) feature spiral?:eek: Here we go again…)
Is this some kind of joke. Wexford does not need this. Are they doing their best to ruin the town’s unique character?
It looks like a design for a USSR trade mission at a Worlds Fair circa 1974, and it ain’t even retro!!!! (Actually a bit more like the thing that dangled behind Dana when she won Eurovision. No, not the international one!!!)
It would not be allowed iin Russia…..it has more the feel of 1970s Romania.
I am at a loss to understand how any of this benefits the people of Wexford? Has someone carried out a study which says we need more cinemas, more bars, more private health clubs, more vacant appartments or more hotels?
Can anyone understand it?
@Hercule wrote:
It would not be allowed iin Russia…..
I absolutely agree I was in Vilnius last year and the National Opera & Ballet House built in 1974 (Then part of the USSR) was a stunning example of contemporary concrete architecture.
The fact that the Dublin to Rosslare railway line crosses the development is quiet well disguised in the artist’s impression or maybe someone forgot to tell him about the train??
Being from Wexford myself, this proposed development is much better what is there already. As for the the railway, i was thinking about this and just assummed that the complex will be seperated by the track, or a tunnel through the building?
@sfamato wrote:
Being from Wexford myself, this proposed development is much better what is there already. As for the the railway, i was thinking about this and just assummed that the complex will be seperated by the track, or a tunnel through the building?
At last, a fellow Wexford man joins the debate.
Well not only is the train missing from the drawing, but Wexford Harbour is missing too! It really does not give much idea of how it will look.
Given the challenges that this site and it’s proposed development present you really have to wonder what the planners were thinking when they decided to rezone this site. It really makes you wonder!!
http://www.anthonyreddy.com/projects/retail/wexford.htm
Reddy Associates were commissioned to work on a site located on the southern edge of Wexford Town Centre, a town that is rich in both historical fabric and natural amenity.
The site comprises the former Wexford Electronics and Meat Factory (also known as Trinity Wharf) sites, located on an area of land jutting out into the harbour, together with an outlet on Trinity Street. The area is currently vacant.
The current site comprises an area of 4.36ha and it is proposed to increase this by 1.92ha by reclaiming land from the harbour. Primary vehicular access to the site will be from Trinity Street, with secondary access provided along the Quays, via the extension of the boardwalk.
The proposed scheme is a response to Wexford County Council’s desire to create a southern node to Wexford Town which will regenerate a highly visible brownfield site in an area of high amenity, and will strengthen and complement the retail offer in the town as part of a comprehensive mixed-use expansion of the town centre.
CLIENT: Deerland Properties Ltd.
SIZE: 62815m2
COST: €150m
COMPLETION: TBCThis plan is a recipie for urban destruction not urban renewal.
This proposed development will only lead to urban destruction. The indigenous shops on the main street will close one by one only to be replaced by a mixture of super pubs and fast food joints. If you want a precedent for this just go look at Carlow where the retail character of Tullow Street and Dublin street have changed completely. Even the once grand Royal Hotel on Dublin Street is now a car park. But Carlow never had the unique historical character of Wexford town.
Wexford, one of the most historic towns in Ireland, its small streets with many small indigenous shops, full of character, attracting visitors from all over Ireland and beyond. A town with a beautiful harbour full of wildlife.
All of this will be put at risk by this development.
Wexford needs a major overhaul to bring in the tourists, its obvious walking around the place..as much as I like it I can see that it could do with a facelift..lets renovate, people!
Every town in Ireland seems to be getting its very own LIffey Valley Centre. nearly 2,000 parking spaces.
@The Denouncer wrote:
Wexford needs a major overhaul to bring in the tourists, its obvious walking around the place..as much as I like it I can see that it could do with a facelift..lets renovate, people!
But would someone really go to Wexford on holidays in order to experience the full Irish retail experience onder one handy roof?
As someone who has been a tourist in Wexford town a few times I can say that it’s the historic aspects that attracted me – including the narrow streets, local shops etc. – rather than some identikit shopping centre. And if this building has the impact that is feared, then the tourist experience will have been compromised.
This isn’t to say that many locals wouldn’t want this scheme, but to sell it on the basis that it will attract tourists seems a bit disingenuous.Hercule-
At a guess, the planners rezoned because developments like this bring in much needed commercial revenue. (It’s possible, of course, that the rezoning was done by councillors against the advice of the planners as often happens. I’m not familiar with the details.)It will attract tourists, and I always found those roads a bit dangerous, with cars practically brushing off your arm as they go past. Wexford will soon be a smart cosmopolitan town, the jewel of the South-East, and who can deny them that?
@ctesiphon wrote:
But would someone really go to Wexford on holidays in order to experience the full Irish retail experience onder one handy roof?
As someone who has been a tourist in Wexford town a few times I can say that it’s the historic aspects that attracted me – including the narrow streets, local shops etc. – rather than some identikit shopping centre. And if this building has the impact that is feared, then the tourist experience will have been compromised.
This isn’t to say that many locals wouldn’t want this scheme, but to sell it on the basis that it will attract tourists seems a bit disingenuous.Hercule-
At a guess, the planners rezoned because developments like this bring in much needed commercial revenue. (It’s possible, of course, that the rezoning was done by councillors against the advice of the planners as often happens. I’m not familiar with the details.)LIVING and HOLIDAYING (is that even a word?) in Wexford are two very different things! I am glad that you enjoyed our historic aspects, but they arent been touched by this development. Wexford has had a great boost to its economy, with the new Shaws department store and Key West as well as many other shops opening up. Where this is proposed to go, is where two very large factorys were, Smiths and the Cash and Carry. And i for one will think it will look great at the end of our Quay Front, such an improvement. Although many will disagree with me.
I dont see how building a shopping centre is gonna turn tourists away. The shopping centre is gonna be out of the town centre (very near where i live actually!) And why should all irish towns be all irish tourists shops and whatnot. Which I think are great, but theres only so many times you can buy a foam guinness hat. The locals need more amenities in these places. Wexford Town isnt a holiday town, unlike Courttown or Rosslare, Its the main town in the county.
I totally agree that living and visiting are totally different experiences and bring different perspectives. I support the rezoning of this land from industrial/distribution to an extension of the town centre as this site ticks all of the boxes that comprise sustainable development i.e
- On Rail line
- Within development boundary
- Close to social infrastructure
- Close to amenity areas i.e. the sea
But did the elected representatives know
- It would involve infilling of the sea
- It would be almost 700,000 square feet
- It would be so bulky
Right idea inappropriate scale for any historical town not to mention one as important as Wexford
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