Plans to demolish two exclusive Dublin 4 homes to make way for 12 apartments have been refused by An Bord Pleanála.

Rivertree Property Development, which lists Jennifer Jackson and Anita Newton-Smyth as directors, was seeking to demolish numbers 1 and 3 Shrewsbury Road in Ballsbridge and replace them with a three-storey apartment block comprising 11 three-bedroom and one two-bedroom apartments. Upholding Dublin City Council's decision to refuse permission, the planning board stated that the development would create an "undesirable" precedent for similar type developments in the area. Such development would alter significantly the established character of the area, which is designated a residential conservation area, the board stated.

The board noted that the two existing houses were habitable and in "harmony" with the pattern of development in this area and ruled that replacing them with a three-storey apartment block would be "inconsistent and out of character with the established pattern of development in the area".

The scheme would have resulted in excessive density and would have distorted the existing relationship with buildings to each other in the area, the board stated.

Criticising the layout and distribution of open space in the scheme, the board ruled that the scheme would have provided "substandard" residential amenity for future occupants.

Earlier this month, Galway developer O'Malley Construction was given the thumbs-up from the planning board to build seven apartments on the one-acre site at the former Chester Beatty Library on Shrewsbury Road.