DEVELOPERS ARE to lodge a planning application with Dublin City Council this week for a €1.2 billion mixed-use scheme for a 5.5 acre site centred on the former Carlton cinema on Upper O'Connell Street.
Subject to planning permission being granted, the "Dublin Central" development will incorporate new streets and squares, more than 100 apartments and the same number of shops as well as a sloping public park at roof level with panoramic views over the city.
The scheme by leading developers Chartered Land, whose biggest project to date has been Dundrum shopping centre, will also include a flagship department store behind the art deco facade of the Carlton, which is to be moved 50 metres farther up the street.
Seventeen restaurants will occupy space at the upper tier of the shopping centre under a transparent "rainscreen" roof. From this level, there would be access to the proposed "Park in the Sky" and a funicular to the summit, 13 storeys above street level.
The rainscreen roof will also provide protection from the elements for the two new streets linking Upper O'Connell Street with Moore Street and Henry Street as well as the three new squares, one of which would be located where the Carlton building now stands.
Dominic Deeny, Chartered Land's chief executive, said the "world-class design" by a consortium of Dublin architects "will create a vibrant urban quarter on Upper O'Connell Street, revitalise the city centre retail offering and provide a 'must see' visitor attraction for Ireland".
"Conservation interests will be protected within the scheme and in fact are given a renewed focus," he said. Twelve listed buildings on the site are to be handled in a variety of ways from full restoration to facade retention, to provide a balance between old and new.
The scheme has been designed by Dublin Central Architects (DCA), a partnership between three architectural practices - Burke-Kennedy Doyle, McGarry Ní Éanaigh and Donnelly Turpin. It is expected to create 3,000 jobs, with up to 7,000 employed in its construction.
DCA's Michael McGarry said it would "transform what has become a marginal urban landscape into a bustling social and cultural environment . . . on a scale unprecedented in the city centre", celebrating O'Connell Street with "a striking new piece of Dublin architecture".
The scheme's "green features" will include rainwater harvesting for use in building services, naturally-ventilated streets to reduce the need for air-conditioning, heat reclamation for tenants, and a waste management scheme to recycle cardboard, glass, metal and plastics at source.
Mr Deeny said the ordinary shop buildings at 14-17 Moore Street, which were designated as a National Monument because of their association with the 1916 Rising, are to be refurbished in conjunction with the Department of the Environment and Dublin City Council.
He also emphasised that the market tradition of Moore Street is to be preserved and enhanced, in collaboration with the city council and local traders. Extensive pre-planning consultations have taken place with a large number of "stakeholders", including An Taisce.
The original Carlton site was the subject of an earlier shopping centre scheme for which planning permission was granted in 1999.
After it became clear that the developers would not deliver, the city council made a compulsory purchase order for the 2.2-acre site.
Over the past five years, more than 50 properties in the area were acquired by Longford-born developer Joe O'Reilly, who set up Chartered Land in 2006. It has projects under way in South King Street, Grand Canal Square, the Ilac Centre and the Pavilions, Swords.
