Re: Re: One Berkley court -132m Tower
D4hotels.ie has today lodged a planning application for their site at Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 currently home to the Ballsbridge Inn and Towers and D4 Berkeley Hotels.
The proposed development is primarily residential in nature and includes other compatible uses such as hotel, retail, restaurants/cafés/bars, medical/healthcare and childcare facilities. The design is by O’Mahony Pike Architects one of Irelands leading Architectural Practices and RIAI Silver Medal for Housing award winners 2009. The proposed development complies fully with the Dublin City Council Development Plan 2005-2011 and the Z1 zoning which requires development to be primarily residential in nature on this site.
The current proposals fully address the January 2009 refusal by An Bord Pleanála of the previous application. The previous application was primarily refused for the reasons of height (37 stories), removal of trees and railings on Lansdowne Road, office, embassy and excessive retail uses which were considered to be contrary to the Z1 zoning of this strategic site. Recognising the reasons for refusal of the previous application the developers now propose 12 buildings with a predominant height of 9 storeys with 2 corner elements of 15 storeys, which are located on the axis of Pembroke Road. The trees and railings on Lansdowne Road are to be retained, which was a primary concern of previous objections. The residential buildings are set back approximately 8 metres from the railings on Lansdowne Road and all surface car parking is relocated below ground. All existing surface car parks are now proposed to be converted to gardens and/or public open spaces. No office or embassy uses are proposed and the retail element is now of neighbourhood scale being less than 20% of that which was previously proposed.
The new plans propose large scale family residential homes, average size 131 m2 (1,400 sq ft) and associated uses which are permissible under the existing Z1 zoning and considered to be compatible with the existing residential amenity and the surrounding neighbourhood.
The proposed development will provide new pedestrian streets and public plazas along with new exceptionally high quality residential apartments. The design creates a new civic/public plaza at the junction of Lansdowne and Pembroke Roads located around the new proposed 135 bedroom hotel, 7 storeys in height which fronts onto Pembroke Road, adjacent to the former Veterinary College site.
The proposed development will result in construction expenditure of €300 million representing a significant and much needed boost for the construction industry. Direct on site employment during the 5 year construction period will be an average of 450 full time jobs, rising to 675 at the peak of activity. The project will generate an additional 180 jobs a year off-site over the duration of construction.
Once construction is complete, the development will employ c500 people. Taking indirect employment into account, the gross employment impact of the project will be c600 jobs per annum into the local, city, regional and national economies on a long term and permanent basis. As a result of these jobs, the project will also generate a significant amount of money into the economy which in GVA terms equates to €22 million per annum.
In summary the proposed development provides an excellent high quality residential development and is a prime example of best practise in terms of apartment types, sizes, public and private open spaces incorporating a range of facilities required to serve the existing residents who wish to relocate in the area as well as new residents moving to Ballsbridge. The apartment sizes will cater for a major void currently not found in new developments in Dublin City by creating apartments which range in size from 64 m2 (700 sq ft) for a one bedroom apartment to 278 m2 (3,000 sq ft) for a four bedroom penthouse, which are much sought after and required by foreign direct investment executives moving to Dublin for short periods.
Residential
The development contains the following accommodation: 568 No. residential units, comprising 70 No. 1-bed apartments, 285 No. 2-bed apartments, 97 No. 2-bed apartments with study, 82 No. 3-bed apartments, 22 No. 4 bed duplex apartments, and 12 No. 4 bed penthouse apartments arranged in 12 Blocks. The average floor area of the apartments is 131 m2 (1400 sq ft) being very generous family sized apartments. The apartments range in size from 64 m2 (700 sq ft) to 278 m2 (3,000 sq ft).
Hotel
A 135 No. bedroom hotel with leisure/spa facilities, conference facilities, and restaurants and a sky bar on the 7th floor.
Retail
A ground floor anchor retail unit, together with a number of neighbourhood shops such as butcher, barber/hairdresser, newsagent, pharmacy, drycleaner and retail shopping are also proposed.
Restaurant/Caf̩/Bar РA number of restaurant/caf̩/bars are provided at ground floor level and comprise a total area of 1,682 m2.
Crèche/Childcare
A new crèche is proposed at the junction of Lansdowne Road with Shelbourne Road and will cater for up to 82 children.
Medical Healthcare Facility
A healthcare facility is provided at the junction of Lansdowne Road with Shelbourne Road, to provide for Dentistry, Physiotherapy and general medical rooms.
Car Parking
Underground car parking for 963 cars and 700 bicycles is provided.
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