4:00 parallel studies 116 projects - dublin · work, live and visit. 4.4.1 the location: the...

urbanprojects

4:00 PARALLEL STUDIES

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parallel studiesurbanprojects

There are a number of Action Area Plans andstudies covering the adjacent parts of the city,which together with the Dublin CityDevelopment Plan and ‘ManagingIntensification and Change – A Strategy forDublin Building Height’ need to be consideredin relation to the subject site. These studieshave been the catalyst for considerable regen-eration of the city centre and demonstrate theimportance of a strategic input from DublinCity Council into planning development in thecity.

Such studies have given landowners anddevelopers / investors a framework for assem-bling sites and proposing large scale schemeswhich have rejuvenated areas and encour-aged further development to take place.

The following documents are examined in thissection in relation to the study area:HARPInchicore Urban Design FrameworkInchicore / Kilmainham Integrated Area PlanDigital Media District / HubHeuston StationCities Divided By Rivers in EuropeEnvironmental Traffic CellsDublin City Council Parking Strategy

heuston gateway: scope and context

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The Historic Area Rejuvenation Project(HARP) was published by Dublin City Councilin August 1996 and sets out a framework planfor the economic and social regeneration ofthis area of the North Inner City. The HARParea comprises of some 109 hectares andforms the north west quadrant of the CityCentral Area. The western portion of theHARP, surrounding Collins Barracks and theNational Museum, between Blackhall Placeand Frank Sherwin Bridge, overlaps with theHeuston Gateway Framework Study Area andthus is of particular interest.

Many similarities exist between both studyareas. These similarities include the number ofinstitutional uses within the areas, the numberof tourist attractions and locations of culturalinterest. In the future, the role of the LUAS,which will form a new spine to the HARP, willalso be a major catalyst to the regeneration ofthe Heuston study area. The central themes tothe HARP study are the social, economic andenvironmental regeneration of the area.

With specific reference to the area covered byboth studies, it was noted, "a major opportuni-ty exists for the National Museum to reach outto the community and interconnect with theeconomy of the local area". In addition it washoped that” the expansion and consolidationof the incorporated Law Society in the BlueCoat School would open opportunities toestablish links with the area".

Policies from the HARP framework, which are

likely to be reflected in the Heuston study,include the development of mixed uses alongthe LRT corridor aimed at contributing vitalityboth day and night to the area. It is also a pol-icy of HARP to generate a mix of land usesalong the east/west pedestrian routes aimedat engendering vitality and a continuousthread of events.

The HARP framework plan is divided into fourcells, including a specific cell for the areaaround the Collins Barracks area. Proposalswithin this cell include the opportunity to pro-vide a local crafts centre on the CollinsBarracks site and the importance of theEsplanade lands to conserve the CroppiesAcre and promote a clearly defined amenityarea. The significance of the LRT in promotingdevelopment in the area is also discussed.

4.1 HARP

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An urban design framework study for Inchicorewas prepared in May 2000 by Urban Initiativesfor Dublin City Council as an additional studyto the Kilmainham / Inchicore IAP document.The report covers the area from the MemorialGardens to the Grand Canal and focuses onthe villages and its links to the city, with rec-ommendations for infill and regeneration.The document identifies and develops link-ages previously promoted under the AreaAction Plan, such as the ‘Heritage Ways’ and‘Green Links’.

The report covers a number of areas:

1.The effect of the implementation of the LUAS(along the southern boundary) and newBallyfermot QBC, with their associated works(street furniture and resurfacing) will soon beevident and will greatly improve the linkageand accessibility of the village as well as thephysical environment.

2.The visitor profile of the Royal Hospital /IMMA, and Kilmainham Gaol is very high.However Inchicore sees little or no benefitfrom the proximity to such sites. Initiatives toencourage visitors to explore the area are laidout. The untapped potential of the MemorialGardens in particular is discussed. Designedby Lutyens to commemorate those who died inthe World Wars, the original proposals show a3-arched bridge connecting the Memorial Parkto the Phoenix Park. The development of theCon Colbert Road has isolated the park. The

4.2 INCHICORE URBAN DESIGNFRAMEWORK

report suggests creating a strong visual link tothe Park from Inchicore and the exploration ofways of improving physical access.

3.The Cammock River is recognised as an envi-ronmental and recreational link through thearea, providing a notional and where possible,physical connection through the area as wellas a recreational resource.

4.The report provides a blueprint for revitalisa-tion and regeneration of key sites with empha-sis on natural surveillance, continuous streetfrontages and mixed use development. Theeconomy of the area grew up along theCammock River with mills and then transportrelated works. After a number of decades ofeconomic hardship the area is now underpressure for private residential developmentand many areas have been designated for taxincentives.The framework plan seeks to create a secureliving environment with private and semi-pri-vate open space well contained by adjacentfrontage development. The St Michael’s EstateRedevelopment is at an advanced stage ofdesign at the time of writing.

The report puts forward recommendations for

infill and regeneration of the village area anddevelops briefs for opportunity sites. Existinggreen sites are identified and their transforma-tion into well used urban spaces is discussed.

The report identifies a number of gatewaysinto the area. The most relevant to theHeuston Area is the Kilmainham / RichmondGate, which is not well linked to the Inchicorehinterland. The area of the IMMA gateway andKilmainham Gaol is the subject of a site brief.The area to the front of the IMMA gateway isthe link space between the two visitor attrac-tions and also between the Inchicore Roadand Kilmainham Lane – the ‘Highway toMunster’. The courthouse fronting onto thisspace is still used, presently as a DistrictCourt in the Dublin Metropolitan Area. Thereport suggests a landmark building on thefrontage of the Inchicore and South CircularRoads, on the Nestle site, creating a plaza tothe courthouse and Gaol, the extent of whichis defined by the crossing points. The reportalso suggests an extension to the courthouse.Both new buildings would have active uses onthe ground floors.

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4.3 KILMAINHAM INCHICORE – INTEGRATED AREA PLAN1998

The Integrated Area Plan covers 190 hectareswith a population of 9000.The report outlines objectives for:• Physical Environment – under used sites,

conservation areas, listed buildings, shopfronts, traffic measures, promote cycling, public spaces;

• Economic Renewal – tourism to address unemployment, tourist trail, local transportlinking Royal Hospital, Kilmainham Gaol, Guinness Hopstore, Memorial Park, Phoenix Park;

• Education – social inclusion;• Community Development, Health and

Welfare - Community networks, participation, cross sectoral Task Forces;

• Housing – Redevelopment, options for affordable housing.

Physical Environment – under used sites,conservation areas, listed buildings,shopfronts, traffic measures, promotecycling, public spaces;Economic Renewal – tourism to addressunemployment, tourist trail, local transportlinking Royal Hospital, Kilmainham Gaol,Guinness Storehouse, Memorial Gardens,Phoenix Park;Education – social inclusion;Community Development, Health andWelfare - Community networks, participa-tion, cross sectoral Task Forces;Housing – Redevelopment, options foraffordable housing.

The Digital Media District in Dublin is to be arich and varied area, featuring state of the arttelecommunications infrastructure and accessto digital services. It will include accommoda-tion for high tech enterprises in a range ofsizes and tenure arrangements and will com-plement this by providing the environment andfacilities which make it an attractive place towork, live and visit.

4.4.1 The Location:

The Liberties Coombe Area straddles James’sStreet and Thomas Street and occupies theeastern edge of the Guinness UDV Breweryprecinct. It lies between the historic core of thecity (Christchurch) and the transport hub atHeuston Station.

The area has a strong mix of industry, crafts,markets, housing and institutions. Throughoutthe 20th Century however, the area has suf-fered from a lack of investment and a loss ofmiddle income population.

4.4.2 Transport – Key Programmed

Changes:

• Restructuring of the central area highway network to form cells, bounded and linkedby distributor roads.

• Construction of the Coombe-Cork Street relief road.

• Introduction of QBCs on the radial routes,including Thomas Street.

• Investment in the LUAS Light Rail Systemlinking Tallaght with the city centre

4.4.3 Longer term proposals:

• Extension of the LUAS network which would provide a greater range of destinations served through the stations in the area built as part of Line A.

• The Metro – which would not penetrate the area, but interchange elsewhere wouldsignificantly improve public transport accessibility within the central area generally.

The interconnector is a proposal to create arail corridor through the centre of Dublin, pri-marily to relieve the major bottleneck betweenConnolly and Pearse Stations.

Restructuring of the central area highwaynetwork to form cells, bounded and linked-by distributor roads.Construction of the Coombe-Cork Streetrelief road.Introduction of QBCs on the radial routes,including Thomas Street.Investment in the LUAS Light Rail Systemlinking Tallaght with the city centre.

.3 Longer term proposals:

Extension of the LUAS network whichwould provide a greater range of destina-tions served through the stations in thearea built as part of Line A.The Metro – which would not penetrate thearea, but interchange elsewhere wouldsignificantly improve public transportaccessibility within the central area gener-ally.

4.4 DUBLIN DIGITAL MEDIA DISTRICT IN THE LIBERTIESCOOMBE AREA (OCTOBER 2000)

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4.5 CITIES DIVIDED BY RIVERS INEUROPE

In January 1999 EDAW were commissionedby the CIRDE partners to undertake phase 1of this study. The partner cities in this projectare Glasgow, Dublin, London and Vlissingen.The CIDRE network has the overall aims of"promoting new approaches to spatial plan-ning and cities divided by rivers in Europe byestablishing and testing coordinated regenera-tion frameworks in four particular cities whichwill encourage the exploitation of rivers andenrich the public domain. The individual frame-works aim to unlock the immense potential ofeach city and their rivers, and so assist themto maintain competitive positions in theEuropean economy".

To date, phase 1 of the study has been com-pleted. The main components of phase 1include:• establishing baseline data for each of the

study areas against which future progresscan be monitored and evaluated;

• reviewing the strategy/policy framework for the river corridors;

• consultation with the client group and other partner agencies to highlight issuesand opportunities;

• examining European best practice acrossa range of themes.

The report presents a history of the develop-ment of Dublin and a description of the exist-ing urban form.

establishing baseline data for each of thestudy areas against which future progresscan be monitored and evaluated;reviewing the strategy/policy framework forthe river corridors;consultation with the client group andother partner agencies to highlight issuesand opportunities;examining European best practice acrossa range of themes.

Chapter 6 of the report presents a review ofthe competitive position of each of the CIDREcities and considers the issues and opportuni-ties facing the local study areas. Statisticsrelating to Dublin’s position as one the mostpopular visitor destinations in Europe aredetailed, including the fact that the averagelength of stay in Dublin is 6.5 nights, muchlonger than most other European Cities. Theimplications of increased tourism for the LiffeyCorridor are considered in detail, particularlythe disparity between facilities on the Northand South banks of the river.

Chapter 9 of the report presents the conclu-sions for phase1 of the study, which includes a‘Development Strategy for the Liffey Corridor’.The objective of this is to prepare a robust,long-term framework for the river corridor, knit-ting together local proposals within theIntegrated Area Plans. The framework shouldestablish the long-term vision and aspirationsof the key public and private sector players forthe development and management of the river.

The second conclusion of the report in relationto Dublin is the establishment of a North EastInner City Partnership Model to assist thedelivery process in the North East Inner Cityby facilitating a series of workshops with keypartners and preparing a delivery plan.

The third conclusion is to develop a businessdistrict improvement strategy for O’ConnellStreet.


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A network of environmental traffic cells hasbeen developed within the inner city in accor-dance with the DTI strategy. These cells aim todiscourage non-essential traffic and create asafer more attractive environment within thecell areas. The provision of greatly improvedpublic transport facilities, the (impending) con-struction of the Dublin Port Tunnel, the conse-quent removal of significant volumes of HeavyGoods Vehicles from the city centre, and thecontrol of long term parking within the city, areall factors which will allow for a re-balance ofurban space away from private car circulationtowards pedestrian, cyclist and public trans-port.

The principal features of the environmentaltraffic cell network include the following:• through traffic will be discouraged or elim

inated from the routes other than from themain distributor routes;

• a series of clearly signed distributor routeswill be provided to allow vehicular traffic make decisions at the earliest possible stage;

• public transport, emergency service vehicles, pedestrians, mobility impaired and disabled persons and cyclists will be ableto move freely between cells;

• there will be a high degree of traffic management on the main distributor routes tomaximise the capacity of the routes;

• on street commuter (long-stay) parking will be discouraged

• measures will be taken to improve road safety and security for all road users within the cells.

through traffic will be discouraged or elim-inated from the routes other than from themain distributor routes;a series of clearly signed distributor routeswill be provided to allow vehicular trafficmake decisions at the earliest possiblestage;public transport, emergency service vehi-cles, pedestrians, mobility impaired anddisabled persons and cyclists will be ableto move freely between cells;there will be a high degree of traffic man-agement on the main distributor routes tomaximise the capacity of the routes;on street commuter (long-stay) parking willbe discouraged;measures will be taken to improve roadsafety and security for all road users with-in the cells.

4.6 ENVIRONMENTAL TRAFFICCELLS

In the summer of 2000 the preliminary designof six of the environmental traffic cells wereawarded. However cells within the HeustonStation area have yet to be tendered. Theseinclude the Bridgefoot Cell, which includes anarea of the Heuston Gateway Study Area. Nodate for the preliminary design of these cellshas been set to date.

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4.7 MANAGING INTENSIFICATIONAND CHANGE – A Strategy for DublinBuilding Height - DEGW

Compared with other European Cities, Dublinhas a dispersed central core and low intensityuse.City Centre functions spread from theInternational Financial Services Centre at theCustoms House, to the potential "museum dis-trict" around Heuston Station (Royal Hospital,Collins Barracks) and from the corporate officecluster at Ballsbridge to the DIT at BoltonStreet.

In terms of transport infrastructure, Dublin fallsbehind Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Lyon inthe provision of an integrated network of pub-lic transport and road infrastructure. In allthree of the benchmark cities, transport invest-ment is recognised as essential to allow theappropriate development to attract inwardinvestment and keep each city competitive.

The challenge for Dublin is seen as:• to steer development to areas where it

enhances the strategy for the city’s growth,

• to retain the intrinsic quality of its historic central area character,

• to consolidate to increase vitality, whilst identifying major strategic well serviced sites for comprehensive development,

• to allow for innovation and facilitate economic growth at a variety of locations in the Corporation area,

• to manage the process of change througha proactive and collaborative planning anddevelopment process.

4.7.1 Potential Locations forIntensification

Defining appropriate levels of intensity of usewill not only have an impact on the density ofbuilt form – but will equally impact on:• the serviceability of the city – particularly

capacity and efficiency of transport (private and public) to service city locations;

• the environmental condition (microclimate,amenity provision etc);

• the extent to which market conditions cansupport or prescribe density in the short and long term.

Road and rail networks historically definedhigh accessibility locations and affected landuse patterns. These patterns and relation-ships are constantly changing and thereforeshaping the development and transformationof the city plan.

Any further increase in traffic congestion, with-out alternative plans for improvement in thepublic transport infrastructure network, willinevitably compromise the attractiveness andappropriateness of inner city locations forlarge scale intensive commercial activity. Thepublic transport system in Dublin is underde-veloped both at the regional and city widescales.

The Study Area falls into some of theCharacter Areas as defined in the DEGWReport.

Character Area B: Northwest – North of Liffeyin between two key conservation areas,bounded by the canal system to the north.(B5, B6)

Character Area C: Conservation areas – high-er density, historic inner city area and PhoenixPark, high incidence of north-south bridgeconnections. (C3)

Character Area D: Southwest - South of theLiffey, bounded by conservation areas, densemixed use edge to river front and pockets ofresidential areas. (D1, D2, D3)

The report recommends to create the potentialfor these locations to develop high cluster orcore forms in the long term.

Please see illustrations at 2.1.6.

to steer development to areas where itenhances the strategy for the city’s growth,to retain the intrinsic quality of its historiccentral area character,to consolidate to increase vitality, whilstidentifying major strategic well servicedsites for comprehensive development, to allow for innovation and facilitate eco-nomic growth at a variety of locations inthe City Council area,to manage the process of change througha proactive and collaborative planning anddevelopment process.

the serviceability of the city – particularlycapacity and efficiency of transport (pri-vate and public) to service city locations;the environmental condition (microclimate,amenity provision etc);the extent to which market conditions cansupport or prescribe density in the shortand long term.

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4.7.2 Character Area Studies:

B5urban grain:• mix of small, medium and large grainmorphology:• irregular street pattern• mix of plot sizes • mix of terraced form and free standing • irregular building orientation and set back• low site coverage• heterogeneous patchy areas with infill

sitescharacter area height:• mixed - 2 storey terraced and 3/4 storey

apartments buildingsbuilding topography:• small and medium scale buildings• terraced and apartment buildings• 7 large scale single occupancy public/

military buildingsland use:• residential• public amenities (Hospital, school)• large scale high security buildings (prison

and 2 military camp)architectural characteristics:• mix of age

B6urban grain:• medium grainmorphology:• + or – orthogonal grid perpendicular to the

river• scale similar to city centre • north/ south orientation• different set backs – loose street frontage• poorly defined open spaces.• regeneration area (new buildings)character area height:• mix of 2/3 storeys for old and 4/5 storeys

for new infillbuilding typology:• mix of small and medium scale buildings

land use:• mixed use residential, commercial and

retail• some occasional light industrialarchtiectural characteristics• mix of age

C3urban grain:• large park with major road running

throughland use:• park

D1urban grain:• 2 large plots either side of the river• single building occupancy south• low site coverage due to rail tracks andgoods yard occupancy • poor street network • north plot being redevelopedcaharacter area height:• mixed ranging from: 1/2 storey terraced• 5 storey new apartment blocks• 10m high warehousesbuilding topography:• warehouses, good yards, infield sites• large single occupancy building (Station,

military camp)• apartment buildings • terraced housesland use:• mixed uses• station• railway tracks• industrial • residentialarchitectural characteristics:• 19th Century to current development

D2urban grain:• large grainmorphology:• large lots • mostly open space land use:• park.

D3urban grain:• small to large grainmorphology:• 150 x 300 to 25 x 600m wide blocks • loose street edges • distorted orthogonal grid character area height:• mixed – ranging from 2 storey terraced• 4/ 6 storey apartment blocks• 25/ 30m industrial buildingbuilding typology:• small to medium scale buildings of various

types (perimeter blocks, free standing warehouses, terraced houses)

land use:• mixed uses• residential • industrial• officesarchitectural characteristics:• late 19th Century early 20th Century

character areas, ‘Managing Intensification andChange: A Strategy for Dublin Building Height’

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4.7.3 Zones for Change:

The Study Area falls into the Zones forChange:

Zone 1: Areas of strong character with intrin-sic value.

Zone 3: Areas for gradual considerable char-acter change in the medium to long term.

Zone 4: Potential new character areas withcontextual constraints.

Areas of diverse character open to consider-able change are characterised by the robust-ness of their fabric, diversity of grain andheight. The character of new development cantherefore relate to existing character or definenew compatible morphologies. In areas suchas Heuston Station and the Guinness sitesthere is the potential for higher buildings with-out compromising the local context. The char-acter of future development should be dictatedby:

Market demand; relation to public transport;local area grain; the size of sites; ownershipstructure and pattern.

Heuston Station – A potential landmark loca-tion for high buildings – Primary transportnodes, termination point of long views alongthe River corridor.

Heuston Station (transport interchange) – Apotential location for high intensity clusters at500-1km radius.

The Heuston Station transport interchange ishighlighted as a potential location for highclusters in the short term. Further expansionof Dublin’s infrastructure to service newexpansion sites, such as lands to the west ofHeuston Station will create the potential forthese locations to develop high cluster or coreforms in the long term.

zones for change, ‘Managing Intensification andChange: A Strategy for Dublin Building Height’

high buildings on the GuinnessUDV Brewery site

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