developments in cork

@Keen wrote:

Has anyone seen the site recently? Have they commenced groundwork yet?

Last time I walked past, over a week ago, there were a bunch of earth moving machinery in there but didn’t look it was a full scale operation as yet.

I dont have access to the Irish Times website but there is an article by Frank McDonald today in it about O’Callaghan properties plan for Academy street and its further information requests.

Below is the article from todays Irish Times which gives a good summary of CCC response to the Academy Street proposals. I think it would be fair to say, that all of the points raised have been raised in this forum and certainly deserve to be answered before any decision is made. In particular, treatment of Academy Street and Bowling Green Street, along with the proposed demolition of the Examiner building on St. Patrick Street.

Images originally posted by jdivision

Cork City Council has requested further information on plans by O’Callaghan Properties for a major retail and residential development in the heart of the city, saying it “is not acceptable in its current form”.

The council’s planners are “concerned with the building heights proposed for the overall scheme”, which would step up to nine storeys, and say these heights “will have to be modified to mitigate its impact” on the surrounding area.

They say the maximum building heights should be reduced by approximately 8m (26 ft) – equivalent to the omission of two floors – and that the “shoulder height” of buildings fronting streets should also be reduced.

The proposed development covers two city blocks bounded by Patrick Street, Academy Street, Emmet Place and Bowling Green Street. It would provide 19 large retail units on four levels as well as 91 apartments and two gyms overhead.

In their request for further information, the planners are seeking a revised visual impact statement, including a further series of photomontages showing how the scheme would look from various points.

They want the developers to provide a scale model of the proposed development as well as details of its impact on the vistas of such landmark buildings as Holy Trinity Church, SS Peter and Paul’s Church.

The planners have queried the proposed demolition of the former Cork Examiner building on Patrick Street.

“Whilst not a protected structure, its attractive appearance contributes significantly in a positive fashion to the existing streetscape,” they say.

While supporting the traditional block structure of the scheme, they are concerned that its treatment at ground-floor level would give pre-eminence to a widened Faulkener’s Lane at the expense of both Academy Street and Bowling Green Street.

“The number of secondary staircases/lift cores proposed . . . and what appear to be rear doors as well as the narrowness of the shopfronts . . . is not acceptable and requires to be modified so as to ensure the continued vitality of Academy Street.”

Owen O’Callaghan, who previously developed the Merchant’s Quay and Mahon Point shopping centres in Cork as well as Liffey Valley in Dublin, said he did not believe the further information request would affect the proposed development.

His planning consultants, Cunnane Stratton Reynolds, maintain that the proposed apartments “will add a new dynamic to city centre living” while the shops would transform “dark and uninviting” Faulkener’s Lane into a “vibrant retail thoroughfare”.

Project Architects, who designed the scheme in conjunction with Gehl Consultants of Copenhagen, have been told to “reduce the palette of materials” along Faulkener’s Lane and to submit detailed shopfront design guidelines for the shops fronting on to it.

The further information request also makes clear that the scale, form and architectural treatment of one of the main buildings proposed for the Emmet Place frontage are not acceptable and its height and “unduly horizontal nature” will have to be reconsidered.

Altogether, the council has received 20 objections to the proposed development. These have come mainly from retailers and property owners in the area who are concerned about the adverse impact of demolition and construction works.

Given that O’Callaghan Properties is seeking to demolish buildings with a total floor space of over 11,000sq m (118,400 sq ft), the planners want to know how the potential adverse effects on nearby commercial properties would be mitigated.

Only two of those who have made submissions – the Cork branch of An Taisce and Mary O’Keeffe, with an address in Dundrum, Dublin 16 – have dealt with the wider impact of the scheme, saying its height would alter the character of Cork city centre.

IRISH TIMES

It will be interesting to see what come’s of the Academy Street dev. plans. I sometimes wonder if the designers actually design a building with extra storys so it will automatically have to be reduced by the council, because I’d reckon the council and other parites involved would never just pass the 1st draft, they would have to feel like they have the power and the last say. Therefore by adding extra storeys or features which are not really needed the council gets to act all high and mightly and the designers can predict this so their real design gets the go ahead anyway! Ok that point was a bit drawn out, but you catch my drift! As regards the Examiner building facade being kept to some degree, for some reason I can’t recall it in my head, will have to check it out over the Bank Holiday when I’m home in Cork! I was over in Birmingham recently, the city is very high rise. Granted some are ugly 1960’s post war council flats but there are alot of high rise offices and apartments. Seemed much more of a high rise than London! The Bull Ring is a new redeveloped shopping area in the city. It’s great, but I was laughing to myself cause most of the decent shops are already in Cork – good ol Mahon Point huh! No place like home 🙂

@lexington wrote:

a pivotal site under the ownership of O’Callaghan Properties (at 16 Lavitts Quay) – to the east of their 21 Lavitts Quay development, have been issued with a Vesting Order
.

for the un initiated, what happens when a Vesting Order is put in place?:confused:

@lexington wrote:

It is quite evident from assessing the form of the extension that its design has been heavily influenced with respect to prominent tree patterns dotted around the library area. The extension essentially weaves between historic tree locations. Finished elevations will be a mix of copper and red-sandstone materials.

I believe the form of the library as it fans out on the Northern elevation is intended to resemble an opening book, with the staggered sections being the pages. Also, the sandstone effect is based on that evident at St. Peter and Paul’s Church, just off Patrick Street. Seeing as the old quarries where this was procured have long since closed, as close an imitation as possible is being shipped from Germany.
Just some useless info…