Íarnród Éireann has won approval for an office development higher than Liberty Hall on the site of Dublin's Tara Street railway station.The complex, which will include an expanded station taking up three storeys at ground level, had been opposed by local residents as well as groups including An Taisce and the Irish Georgian Society.
An Taisce's planning officer, Mr John O'Sullivan, said he was "amazed" that the development had been given the go-ahead, especially since a similarly high complex on a nearby site at Georges Quay had been refused on the grounds of its impact on the Custom House across the Liffey.
"The rationale, insofar as any rationale was given, is that Íarnród Éireann needs a bigger station, but the actual improvement to the station is minimal," he added.
However, a spokesman for the joint designers, O'Dea and Moore, said the new railway concourse would be a "proper city station" in keeping with Tara Street's central location and level of public use.
He added that the new building would form, with Liberty Hall, "a portal to the high-rise zone Dublin". The 16 conditions attached by An Bord Pleanála had little effect on the project, the spokesman said.
The development, in which the senior partners are the Canadian company Murray and Murray, comprises a 14-storey "elliptical glass tower" with a solid, circulation core containing lifts and stairs.
Although the height of the original proposals has been reduced by between four and eight metres to bring the bulk of the building into line with Liberty Hall - on the opposite side of the Liffey - the highest point of the approved structure is 60.8 metres, compared with Liberty Hall's 59-metre elevation.
The greatly expanded station concourse will take up the equivalent of three storeys of the building, with trains running above the pedestrian entrance at street level. The concourse will be lined with retail units, and there will be entrances from both Tara Street and Georges Quay.
The station will be topped by nine floors of office space, a restaurant and bar on the 12th floor, and mechanical and plant on the 13th and 14th storeys.
Objectors to the development included the owners of a listed public house, Kennedy's on Georges Quay. The pub will remain where it is.
