Denis O’Brien to build 26 storey residential in Donnybrook

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    • #706583
      Andrew Duffy
      Participant

      I’m surprised I missed this:

      http://www.unison.ie/classifieds/property/commercial/stories.php?ca=151&si=1065515

      Donnybrook to get city’s tallest residential scheme
      Wednesday October 22nd 2003

      TELECOMS magnate Denis O’Brien, plans to build Dublin’s tallest residential building in Donnybrook. His company Partenay Ltd is seeking permission to build a 25 storey slim-line glass tower consisting mainly of apartments, on the site of the former Bizquip retail outlet, located between the local garda station and the fire station.

      While the number of storeys may seem high by Donnybrook standards, the applicants may point out that only a few hundred yards away is the very high structure of the industrial chimney of a former Magdalen laundry.

      Also only about half a mile to the north-east is Ardoyne House, for a long time the southside’s tallest apartment building.

      The site of Partenay’s planning application also includes 1-3 The Crescent, Donnybrook. The project will include two basement level car parks, retail/commercial and office space on the ground, first and second floors, a residential gymnasium, roof garden and function room at the fourth floor and 37 apartments in the rest of the building. The penthouse unit will be designed in duplex style and could sell for more than €1 million. This would put the value of the total development at around €20m. Designed by deBlacam and Meagher, views from here will include the RTE studios in Donnybrook, the Dublin Mountains and Dublin Bay.

      Mr O’Brien is not listed as a diretor of Partenay but informed sources indicated that it looks after some of his property interests. One of his company’s, Level 62, operated from the Bizquip premises when it was putting together his application for a third generation mobile phone licence.

      One of the directors of Partenay is Sandra Ruttle, also company secretary at eIsland, O’Brien’s consortium which unsuccessfully bid for Eircom in 2001. Another Partenay director is David Sykes who has also been an associate of Mr O’Brien’s. The third director is Ann Foley.

      The former Bizquip head office at 25/27 Donnybrook Road was sold in the year 2000 for around €3.8 million and its owner Jim Leyden opened an alternative retail outlet across the road and moved its main distribution centre to Sandyford.

      The single storey Bizquip site covered about 895 sq m and came with full planning permission for a second storey. At the time the agent Bill Phelan, of The Phelan Partnership, said that it had potential for about 1,800 sq m of space comprising retail and offices.

      Donal Buckley

    • #736902
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      Yup – read that one last week. I’d be really surprised if it actually get’s off the starting blocks. The article was just a nice bit of publicity for the PROPOSED development. I’m guessing the D4 mentality do-gooders (in this case it’s actually in D4!!!) who auto-object to everything are salivating at the prospect of hobbling this plan no matter how well designed it may be.
      It’ll go to an bord planala, get reduced to a “timeless” red brick with painted blue metal balcony 4+1 courtyard dev – smashing.

      Similar plans are afoot near pearse st – but have heard nothing about it in the press.

    • #736903
      Andrew Duffy
      Participant

      That’s Coolred’s 16 storey proposal? The next planning decision is due by the 3rd. It’s already had a time extension. The next decision for what must be the most extended decision in planning history, the Southbank development (over three years and still no initial decision) is due on the 10th.

    • #736904
      Rory W
      Participant

      The chances of this happening are somewhere between ‘yeah’ and ‘right’ i.e. not at all. The two examples used Magdelene Chimney (tall but hadly obtrusive) and Ardoyne House (Built before current planning guidelines were introduced) are flawed for the reasons given.

      If this gets built I will personally start digging the Metro tunnel from Stephens Green to the airport with a toothpick!

    • #736905
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      just checked up on the net – coolred pearse st… TIME EXTENSION!!! Or should that be “delaying the inevitable rejection”.
      I’d be really surpirsed if it sailed through 1st time, or at all – inspite of having millenium tower and bolands mills as next door neighbours.

    • #736906
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      oh wait – Andrew Duffy already mentioned the delay, sorry!

    • #736907
      Paul Clerkin
      Keymaster
    • #736908
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      i just cant imagine de blacam and meagher doing a 26 storey building, all wood and ye olde brick. does anyone have images of what it would look like?

      i reckone it would be like the beckett theatre on steroids :

    • #736909
      Sue
      Participant

      26 storey block in Donnybrook, my arse. Is this another of your spoofs, Mr. Clerkin?

    • #736910
      Paul Clerkin
      Keymaster

      Nope, I try to keep the spoofs away from architecture.

    • #736911
      Andrew Duffy
      Participant

      I’d normally assume it was nonsense, but the planning application has been lodged (5166/03), the architects are serious and Denis O’Brien is the developer. It’s a serious proposal, and I doubt he’ll give up without a fight.

    • #736912
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      And nor should he.
      People are dismissing this project based soley on the description of “26”.
      How about waiting to see how it’s designed and will fit in with it’s surroundings.
      A building does not have to be the same height as it’s surroundings to “fit in”. Obviously the case for badly designed taller building outweighs those for well-designed. But tall buildings are so few and far between in this country – maybe we should wait to see the proposal before dumping on the idea.

    • #736913
      sw101
      Participant

      I’d love to see it built. Go denis

    • #736914
      td
      Participant
    • #736915
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      Wow! It would a miracle if that got the go-ahead.

      Phat chance.

    • #736916
      Paul Clerkin
      Keymaster

      A nice and vague image that….

    • #736917
      GrahamH
      Participant

      Oooooh – very swanky

    • #736918
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      Swanky indeed – so much for building up as an effective use of land and keeping per-unit costs down… pure status symbol. I’d like to see the prices for a penthouse in THAT!

    • #736919
      Andrew Duffy
      Participant

      To td, if you come back: I assume you are involved with either the developer or the architect. Any more information, any more pictures?

    • #736920
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      As ussual the photmontage shows absolutely no relevence of the proposed building to the surrounding area. Is this building proposed for the old Buzquip site? I did not know that site closed the vista along that routeway.

    • #736921
      td
      Participant

      some early model photos to follow……hopefully not to vague for you!……..can zipped images be loaded up?? had to cut a lot out of these……

    • #736922
      td
      Participant

      and another…….

    • #736923
      Paul Clerkin
      Keymaster
    • #736924
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      That’s hilarious… “of the same scale as Liberty Hall”. Yeah – cos Liberty Hall is HUUUUGE!

    • #736925
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      its ten stories taller than liberty hall in a 2-3 storey area. lets not get lost in the blood lust of wanting big impressive buildings in dublin.
      this is not the place for a 26 storey tower.

    • #736926
      GrahamH
      Participant

      I was interested to read a couple of weeks ago about the ‘topping out’ of the world’s latest tallest building in Taiwan.
      It was topped out by a spire, like the Chrysler Building – and its exactly the height of Liberty Hall – 196 feet!

    • #736927
      d_d_dallas
      Participant

      I’m not bloodlusting for highrise (this time!) but it is funny to see some peoples world view absolutely narrowed to a blindingly fine point. That Liberty Hall could ever be used as such an example – SHOCK! That Big – wow – that’s the biggest building in Ireland (it’s not) – let’s object! But that the D4 attitude all over isn’t it???

    • #736928
      Paul Clerkin
      Keymaster

      August 29 2004: Objections pose threat to O’Brien tower
      The Sunday Business Post

      http://www.irish-architecture.com/news/2004/000171.html

    • #736929
      Irishtown
      Participant

      I never expected it to ever be built. At least not in Donnybrook.

      Shame too, Dublin’s got to get its first Skyscraper sometime, although I don’t really agree that Donnybrook is the place.

    • #736930
      Paul Clerkin
      Keymaster

      I don’t think they ever expected to get it built either – the images are so vague to be massing models rather than architectural images… could be a trojan horse for a lower building of 8/9 stories

    • #736931
      Paul Clerkin
      Keymaster

      O’Brien-led Donnybrook property plan denied permission
      The Irish Times

      The consortium headed by the multi-millionaire businessman Mr Denis O’Brien has been refused planning permission for a 26-storey apartment tower in Donnybrook village in Dublin. The glazed cylindrical tower, designed by deBlacam and Meagher Architects, would have housed 36 two-bedroomed apartments and one three-bedroomed two-storey penthouse, with commercial and office space spread over the first three floors. The development was to be located between Donnybrook Garda station and the local fire station, on the former BizQuip site that was acquired by the consortium five years ago. Dublin City Council yesterday refused permission for the building, saying it is too high and because of the lack of amenity spaces for potential residents.

      http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2004/0925/427845032HM4DENISOBRIEN.html

    • #736932
      Irishtown
      Participant

      Oh, well at least its now official that it will never be built.

    • #736933
      vinnyfitz
      Participant

      I imagine that, having gone this far, Denis will appeal to ABP again.
      Personally I’d be in favour of this project.

    • #736934
      Anonymous
      Participant

      I think the architects did as much as anyone could have done with this but nothing above five stories was ever going to receive serious consideration at this location.

    • #736935
      vinnyfitz
      Participant

      “serious consideration”… by the city council.

      It will be interesting to see if ABP take a different perspective…

    • #736936
      Andrew Duffy
      Participant

      http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2005/0303/4212052402HM6DONNYBROOK.html

      Permission refused for 26-storey residential tower in Donnybrook
      Fiona Tyrrell

      A consortium headed by businessman Denis O’Brien has been refused permission to build a 26-storey residential tower in Donnybrook in Dublin.

      Upholding a decision by Dublin City Council last September, An Bord Pleanála ruled the tower was excessive in height and scale.

      Mr O’Brien’s Partenay Ltd appealed the council’s decision to refuse permission for the 87m (285ft) glazed cylindrical tower on the former BizQuip site, between the Garda station and the local fire station on the crescent and Donnybrook Road.

      In its appeal, Partenay argued that the existing buildings on the site are “unsightly” and that the building would “mark a key point of identification or gateway into the city”.

      The development would also revitalise the commercial centre of Donnybrook with a modern landmark building, according to the developers.

      Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was among many objectors to express opposition to the tower. He urged his Dublin South East constituents to object to the development.

      Objectors argued that the building would dwarf development in the vicinity and would damage the character and architecture of the area.

      The planning board ruled on Tuesday that, despite design quality, the proposed building was on a restricted site in a primarily residential area of established character and would have failed to comply with policies on high-rise buildings.

      “It is considered that the excessive height and scale of the proposed 26-storey glazed tower and four-storey podium building on this restricted site would result in an unduly prominent and overbearing form of development that would create overlooking and unduly detract from the established character, appearance and amenities of the area,” the board stated.

      Designed by de Blacam and Meagher Architects, the €20 million residential and commercial building would have risen from a four-storey brick-clad base and double-basement car park. It was envisaged the tower would have 36 two-bedroom apartments, office and retail space, a gym and a roof garden.

      © The Irish Times

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