Plans to demolish the eight-storey Carrisbrook House in Dublin 4 and replace it with a 10-storey office block have been stalled.
Last month, Dublin City Council granted planning permission to Atria V Lux SARL for the demolition of the well-known building, which is located at the junction of Pembroke Road and Northumberland Road and across from the site of the former Jury’s hotel.
Carrisbrook House served as the home of the Israeli embassy in Ireland up until the embassy’s relocation to nearby Shelbourne Road in 2019 and now Atria V plans include a restaurant and cafe at ground-floor level.
The new office block scheme, at 12,690sq m, will provide more than three times the gross floor area of the current Carrisbrook House.
However, the scheme has been stalled after an appeal was lodged to An Bord Pleanála against the council’s decision by the Pembroke Road Residents Association and the Lansdowne and District Residents Association.
In its joint appeal, the residents’ associations argue that there is an over-abundance of empty office space in the district.
On behalf of the residents’ associations, Siobhan Cuffe said: “All the indications internationally are at this time that this concept of city-centre office space is not required as such in the post-Covid urban world.”
Ms Cuffe contended that the proposal was an out-of-date concept of an office building with decorative frills of a small cafe at ground level.
“We ought to be able to do better than this and we can if we can put our thoughts together,” she stated.
The council granted permission after concluding that the proposed development “will upgrade a prominent location in the city, contribute to employment in the area and will allow for the construction of a contemporary/modern building in a city location proximate to public transport and other amenities”.
It also concluded that the scheme “exhibits a contemporary design which will make a positive contribution to the subject site and Dublin’s urban fabric”.
The council said “the proposed development would not seriously injure the residential amenity or architectural quality of the surrounding location”.
Planning consultants for the scheme, John Spain & Associates, said the proposal “represents a further opportunity to secure the improvement of an inner suburban site at a strategic location”.
A decision is due on the appeal in October.
