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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Fresh bid for Dublin's tallest building on City Arts Centre site after High Court quashes An Bord Pleanála ruling
The company behind a plan to redevelop the site of the former City Arts Centre at City Quay is to renew its bid to build Dublin's tallest building there. Having secured planning permission from Dublin City Council just two weeks ago for a 14-storey office block, Ventaway, a company headed up by David Kennan and Winthrop engineering group founder Barry English, is aiming once again to deliver a 24-storey structure on the site. The proposal is being revived on foot of a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Richard Humphreys earlier this week in which he quashed the decision made by An Bord Pleanála in May 2024 to refuse planning permission for the scheme. In arriving at his decision, the judge found that the board was in breach of Section 172 of the 2000 Planning and Development Act by refusing permission for the scheme 'in the absence of a properly conducted environmental impact assessment (EIA) by the board with a reasoned conclusion'. READ MORE The judge also found that there was a 'complete absence of engagement' by the board in relation to the ten-page analysis of its own inspector, which highlighted the fact that the urban development and building heights guidelines for planning authorities issued by former minister for housing Eoghan Murphy in December 2018 supported the granting of permission for a taller building. According to these, local authorities may assess permissible building heights on a qualitative basis, rather than by the limitations imposed by development plans or local area plans. The former City Arts Centre as it is today Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill The Irish Times understands that following this week's court ruling, Ventaway will pursue its entitlement to submit its proposal for the 24-storey tower to the planning appeals board, which is now known An Coimisiún Pleanála, for its consideration. Should it get the go-ahead, the 24-storey tower would rise to a height of 108m (354.33ft) and comprise 22,587 sq m of office space over 23 of its floors, along with 1,404 sq m of artist studios and exhibition space distributed across the front of the building at its lower-ground, ground and first-floor levels. A computer generated aerial image of the scheme proposed for the former City Arts Centre site While the 14-storey building, for which Ventaway currently has permission, would, in contrast, be 61.05m (200ft) in height, the building would be wider, providing additional office space – 23,501 sq m compared to the 22,587 sq m in the taller scheme. The lower-rise scheme would provide less arts and cultural space, with 910 sq m being dedicated to artist studios and exhibition areas compared to the 1,404 sq m provided for in the proposed 24-storey structure.
Irish Independent
04-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Dublin City Council grants permission for 14-storey office block despite opposition from OPW, local school and religious trust
The council has granted planning to the firm, headed up by developer David Kennan and Winthrop engineering group founder Barry English, despite opposition from the Office of Public Works (OPW), an inner-city primary school, a religious trust and An Taisce. In granting planning permission to Ventaway Ltd, a council planner's report concluded that the scheme 'will result in the redevelopment of a massively under-utilised vacant site in a prominent location within the city centre'. The report found that the proposed alterations 'ensure that the development will not only create valuable commercial space but will also add much-needed artistic spaces, while also providing managed space for the adjoining school'. Underlining the scale of the scheme, the council has ordered Ventaway to pay €3.18m in planning contributions towards public infrastructure and €1.08m towards the Luas C1 line scheme. The current plans follow An Coimisiún Pleanála refusing planning permission in May 2024 to Ventaway to develop what would have been Dublin's tallest building at 24 storeys for the same site. School's board of management was objecting 'in the strongest possible terms' Ventaway lodged its revised plans last December and the scheme – designed by architects Henry J Lyons – is 61.05m tall, which is a 46.95m height reduction on the 108m-high scheme refused in 2024. Principal of City Quay National School, Philip Kelly, told the council that the school's board of management was objecting 'in the strongest possible terms' to the new planning application. The OPW is the state agency charged with the care and management of the James Gandon-designed Custom House and in its objection, the OPW stated that the construction of a building at this scale and magnitude 'has the potential to adversely impact the historic and architectural character of the Custom House'. In a separate objection on behalf of St Laurence O'Toole Trust and the Administrator of the Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, planning consultant Declan Brassil stated that the scheme 'represents a significant overdevelopment of the site'. The country's largest industry lobby group, Ibec, also weighed in stating that approval should be granted. Ibec's head of infrastructure and environmental sustainability, Aidan Sweeney, told the council that the proposal 'offers an effective revitalisation of a prime location in the city centre and is exactly the sort of project Dublin requires going forward'.
