Developer Ventaway has made a fresh bid to get the planning green light for an office block scheme on the site of the former City Arts Centre at City Quay in Dublin.
The company, headed up by developer David Kennan and Winthrop engineering group founder Barry English, has lodged plans with Dublin City Council for a 14-storey structure for the Dublin 2 site. This follows seven months after An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission in May to develop what would have been Dublin’s tallest building at 24 storeys for the same site.
In refusing permission, the board upheld an October 2022 Dublin City Council refusal and dismissed its own inspector’s recommendation to grant planning.
The board said the scale, bulk and height of the scheme would “seriously detract from the setting and character of the Custom House and environs” and would “stand apart as an overly assertive solo building which would not form part of a coherent cluster”.
Now, a report lodged with the new plan by planning consultant John Spain Associates states that the May 2024 refusal is currently the subject of legal challenge. The latest plan – designed by architects, Henry J Lyons – is 61.05 metres tall, which is a 46.95 metre height reduction on the scheme refused last May.
Despite the reduction in height, the new building will be wider, providing additional office space – 23,501 sq m in office space compared to 22,587 sq m in the refused scheme.
The new scheme would also provide 910 sq metres in arts and cultural space and “will provide a valuable new facility for the city”, according to Mr Spain’s report.
The planning consultants state that “the reduced height of the current proposal may be more readily absorbed into the visual landscape”.
They add that the proposal would allow the development potential of the site to be maximised within the George’s Quay area while improving the visual impact and amenity through responsive architectural design, provision of public cultural space and mitigation measures to reduce the impact upon City Quay National School and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.
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