Seán Dunne's soaring scheme for Ballsbridge has undoubted architectural quality, but the real question is whether it will "fly", writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor
A lot of money has been gambled by developers on the prospect of re-creating Ballsbridge, the heart of "Dublin 4". Seán Dunne paid €54 million an acre for the Jurys Hotel site, and €60 million an acre for the Berkeley Court, but even these record prices in autumn 2005 were soon trumped by other developers.
Now, hot on the heels of Ray Grehan's ambitious scheme for the former Veterinary College site on Shelbourne Road, Mr Dunne is putting it up to Dublin City Council's planners - and perhaps the council itself - to decide whether they share his vision of a high-rise, mixed-use development on the two hotel sites.
The proposal unveiled yesterday has undoubted architectural quality. As designed by Henning Larsen Architects, a noted Danish firm with an impressive portfolio of work, it is clearly intended to make a major statement - with a landmark 37-storey tower that would be more than twice the height of Liberty Hall.
This irregularly shaped tower, dubbed "One Berkeley Court", is described by Ulrik Raysse, Larsen's director of design for the project, as having "its own special geometry and materiality. It is cut like a diamond". He also conceded that it would be "quite difficult to build something with so many sides to it".
The scheme is challenging, in every sense. Even the less tall buildings proposed - 11 storeys along Lansdowne Road and 15 storeys on Pembroke Road - would be taller than any post-1960 office block in Ballsbridge, and significantly taller than the grand Victorian houses that are still so characteristic of the area.
It is also being put forward in something of a vacuum. The city council, having sought a local area plan for Ballsbridge two years ago, recently rejected what was produced by consultants Urban Initiatives precisely because it would have paved the way for more dense mixed-use schemes, including high-rise buildings.
As a result, the proposed development will have to be adjudicated on in the context of the current Dublin City Development Plan, which did not envisage a towering future for Ballsbridge. Only Docklands and the area around Heuston Station were specifically earmarked for high-rise buildings, in line with an earlier study.
The combined seven-acre site occupied by Jurys (now closed) and the Berkeley Court (still open) is zoned residential in the city plan.
But Mr Dunne has insisted that this would not preclude retail and cultural facilities as well as embassies; the only part of his scheme that would not comply is a proposed office block.
In terms of planning gain, what the scheme offers is permeability, with no less than seven access points from the surrounding streets leading to an internal network of pedestrian routes, including two urban squares.
This contrasts with the relative inaccessibility of the hotel sites, which are surrounded by railings.
The mixed-use nature of the scheme - residential, retail, cultural facilities and offices - is another major selling point. Along with a replacement hotel and Mr Grehan's proposal next door, plus the redevelopment of other sites in the vicinity, a whole new urban quarter would be created in the middle of Ballsbridge.
Mr Dunne's bravado is bound to provoke strong opposition from residents' associations in the area. Indeed, whatever decision is made by Dublin City Council - perhaps to grant permission for a somewhat scaled-down version of what he has proposed - even the developer himself knows that it will go to An Bord Pleanála.