AN COIMISIÚN PLEANÁLA has upheld Dublin City Council’s rejection of Johnny Ronan’s RGRE planned 17-storey mixed use scheme for Dublin’s docklands.

In February, Ronan’s Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) lodged plans for the redevelopment of global banking giant Citigroup’s current European headquarters at 1 North Wall Quay in Dublin’s docklands.

The scheme involves the demolition of Citigroup’s existing six-storey office building and the development of four buildings in its place, ranging in heights of nine storeys to 17 storeys.

According to the plans, the scheme would include office accommodation, arts/ community/cultural uses and a retail/café/restaurant unit.

RGRE firm NWQ Devco Limited was seeking a ten-year planning permission

The council comprehensively rejected the scheme in April, resulting in applicants NWQ Devco Ltd appealing the refusal to An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP).

In refusing planning permission, ACP has found that the scheme’s excessive height, bulk, massing and form would constitute an overly dominant and isolated tall building that would be at odds with the surrounding context and would seriously injure the amenity of the Liffey Quays and key views along the river corridor.

The ACP refusal order pointed out that the planned site is a prominent and sensitive location which fronts onto the River Liffey and within the Liffey Quays conservation area and is in close proximity to neighbouring properties.

The development was to be located at Citigroup’s current European headquarters at 1 North Wall Quay in Dublin’s docklands. Dublin City Council Dublin City Council

ACP found that the proposed development would result in significant adverse impacts to residential amenity due to the unacceptable and unjustified loss of daylight and overshadowing of a principal shared amenity space.

ACP also found that the scheme did not meet the criteria for exceptional circumstances for enhanced height, density and scale for Landmark Tall Buildings.

In the second part of the board order refusing planning permission, signed off by Planning Commissioner Mary Henchy, ACP stated that having regard to the age, form and condition of the existing office building and the results of the Whole Carbon assessment, the commission found that the wholesale demolition of the existing building would be both premature and unjustified and would set an unwelcome precedent for the demolition on similar sites in Dublin.

As a result, the commission found that the scheme was contrary to a policy in the City Development Plan that supports and promotes the retrofitting of existing buildings.

Clarion Quay Management (CQE) Company CLG was a third party appellant in the support of the Council refusal and its appeal to ACP was aimed at protecting the residential amenity of dwellings and maintaining and improving safe and uncongested access to other uses of CQE.

The RGRE appeal included an Arthur Cox submission which stated that the application submitted meets the criteria for ‘exceptional circumstances’ that would allow planning permission to be granted for a landmark building.

The letter stated that it appears that the City Council did not engage in any analysis or consideration of the ‘exceptional circumstance’ and whether it is met by the development.

Architects of the scheme, Henry J Lyons, contended that the scheme as submitted is appropriate for the context of the site.