Re: Re: One Berkley court -132m Tower
Notjim, at this stage, I think you are deliberately missing the point. Yes, this tower will have an extremely slight bearing on density within Dublin but is that really what Mountbrook Homes is interested in? Judge the scheme on its architectural merits not on fanciful notions of density or inclusiveness.
Their video repeatedly mentions Copenhagen and Barcelona yet neither of these cities have much by way of high-rise. Instead, they keep densities high by building apartment blocks in the range of five to ten stories.
Popping up a few towers in a handful of wealthy suburbs (see Donnybrook also) is a completely haphazard way to address the over-development of Dublin.
If we wanted high-rise, we should have set aside a few specific completely under-developed areas, the Docklands, Heuston Station etc.
I see people frequently mentioning London as well in arguments, yet the vast majority of tower development in that city is going on within two specific financial services areas, City and Canary Wharf. The same applies to Paris where high-rise is largely restricted to La Defense.
Nobody in either city would be calling for high-rise development in the likes of Notting Hill or Montmartre yet that’s what we want for Ballsbridge.
Mountbrook Homes has tried to pretend that Ballsbridge has had its heart bombed out of it and that they are going to help restore it. That simply isn’t the case as anyone who walks arounds there would tell you, many streets are exactly as they were 100 years ago.
Dunne also specifically targets the O’Mahony Pike Herbert Park Hotel/Office/Apartments scheme in one of his outpourings, yet that is one of the best modern developments in Dublin.
http://ireland.archiseek.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/ballsbridge/anglesea_road/serpentine_apartments_lge.html
The only problem with it (from Dunne’s point of view) is that its high density of six to seven storeys would not be enough to redeem the stupid money he paid for the Ballsbridge site.
Also, someone already made this excellent point? But why should we allow Sean Dunne to set the parameters regarding sustainable living in Dublin when he is simultaneously adding to suburban sprawl with his developments in Co’s Wicklow and Kildare. He is either committed to improving Dublin or he isn’t.
