Apartments that tick all your tech and storage boxes are being built at Bracken View, phase one a 70-apartment scheme that forms part of Bracken Park, a Cosgrove Group development in the grounds of Garryknock and adjacent to Castleknock College.
When completed the development will comprise 78 four- and five-bedroom houses and 70 two-and three-bedroom apartments.
Of the homes 40 have been sold and are already occupied, and another 13 almost completed.
Bracken View, the first of three apartments blocks, all four-storey high, comprises 14 two-bedroom and nine three-bedroom units. The apartments all face south to overlook a rolling green and playground.
Bigger than Tiger-era builds, the two-beds are 81sq m, the three-beds 112sq m and the A2 and A3 rated properties have a pay-as-you go central system that will generate hot water and electricity for all residences. The system can be controlled remotely on your phone, giving residents hot water and heat on demand.
With residents in Honey Park, another Cosgrave development in Dún Laoghaire, paying €420 per annum in utilities, Michael Cosgrave, the tech-loving wizard of the three brothers who has spent time boning up on better ways to live at the Passive House Institute in Germany, estimates that annual heating bills in these D15 properties “should be less than €500”.
The heat-recovery system is pre-set so you don’t have to have a Phd in engineering to learn how to operate it. It warms the outside air and eliminates condensation from bathrooms and utility rooms.
A key selling point is the sizeable storage space in each unit.
Each two-bed has 7sq m of storage that includes a utility room where Elfa storage for drying and storing both clean and dirty laundry forms part of the package, and a second windowless room that could have many uses. Brian S Nolan who did the showhouse interiors has decorated this as a study.
Storage in the three-beds is 9sq m, the size of a bedroom, and includes a cloakroom.
Each property comes with fully-fitted and tiled bathrooms, a tiled hall and a roomy open-plan kitchen-living-dining room where smart painted units with white stone countertops from Nolan Kitchens are standard.
The master bedroom in the two-bed has a shower ensuite and French doors fitted with night vents that allow air in without compromising security. The doors open out to a Juliet balcony. Both bedrooms have fitted wardrobes.
The homes have good ceiling heights too, 2.7m instead of the standard 2.4m, and good bedroom sizes. Each property has a decked balcony featuring a low maintenance composite balcony that overlooks the central green. The landscaped grounds include walks, outdoor exercise machines and picnic tables.
Prices are from €275,000 for the two-bedroom apartments and from €360,000 for the three-bedroom units through agents Hooke and MacDonald.
Each is sold with a car parking space, and the development has just signed up the GoCar hire facility to one vehicle on site for residents to use. Every purchaser get’s a year’s free membership of the scheme.
