Submissions for a 23,500 square metre office site in Dublin, fronting the River Liffey and opposite the IFSC, are to be invited next week and will be judged according to architectural merit.
Mr Peter Coyne, chief executive of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, said it was going to be "very particular" about the architectural standard of the winning proposal and that this aspect would be given as much weight as price.
The site, on Sir John Rogerson's Quay, is next to where Novell is to begin construction of a new headquarters in July. It will complete the river frontage for the development by the authority of the old Dublin Gasworks site.
Because of the powers held by the authority, the winning submission for the site will, in effect, automatically have planning permission. The closing date for submissions is March 8th and it is hoped building can begin in July or August, when the whole Dublin Gasworks site will be cleared and ready for construction. The submissions will be for one building or for two or three connected buildings with a main elevation of six stories. The authority expects submissions to identify occupiers for up to two-thirds of the space. Details for submissions to build a hotel on part of the site is due to be published shortly and will also place a heavy emphasis on architectural quality.
Overall, one million square feet of office space and 1,300 apartments are to be built.
The authority plans to roll out proposals for the 24-acre site over the coming months and to develop it as quickly as possible. "It is between the IFSC and Dublin 2 and 4, and is on a scale sufficient to be a location in its own right," said Mr Coyne. "It will have the Luas and be a highly concentrated mix of residential and commercial, with bars and restaurants, with the canal basin on one side and the river on the other. It is going to be a city centre site of the highest quality."
Mr Coyne said he did not expect that the architectural standards required would affect the price received for the site.
The residential elements in phase two of the IFSC involved inviting architectural proposals and then seeking a developer to construct the winning proposal. Many of these developments are approaching completion.
Some of the commercial and residential elements of the Dublin Gasworks site are to be developed in this way. "We intend to achieve a very high standard of architecture," Mr Coyne said.
Novell's headquarters building will accommodate up to 1,000 employees. Novell is the first major non-financial services company to move into the area supervised by the authority.
