AFTER a long and intense consultation process with Dublin City council, the Northern basin at Grand Canal Harbour will finally be opened up and developed if Laing O’Rourke presses ahead with its 10-year planning permission for the €100 million development.

Architects HKR are behind the design which rises to 12 storeys and will incorporate a mixed-use development with offices, an aparthotel, residential, retail, cafe/bar/restaurant, medical, and exhibition space.

According to Cyril O’Neill, director of HKR, the developer is currently “considering the timescale for commencement” which might be architect-speak for waiting for the economy to pick up.

The site at James Dock was the former termination of the Grand Canal until the decision was taken to extend the canal and it became the terminus for Guinness and was used for their barges before it was filled in the 1960s and 1970s .

“There has been no public access since it was filled in so the development would open up and create new pedestrian routes. The challenge is to incorporate a new public realm and re-instate the original harbour configuration,” says O’Neill.