An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for an eight-storey, mixed-use scheme close to the Ha’penny Bridge in Dublin.
The appeals board refused planning permission being sought by SRM Book and Cook Ltd for proposed development due to its impact on the historic setting of the “iconic and unique” Liffey Quays.
SRM Book and Cook Ltd, which operates the Woollen Mills Eating House restaurant at Ormond Quay, originally lodged plans in January 2023 for the eight-storey development consisting of six three-bedroom apartments, a two-bedroom penthouse unit and a restaurant at ground floor level.
In its refusal, the appeals board said that due to the scale, height and massing, the proposal constituted an excessive and inappropriate form of development in the context of the historic setting of the Liffey quays which is an iconic and unique part of the built heritage of the inner city.
The appeals board concluded that the development would result in significant overdevelopment of this sensitive site, located to the rear of the Woollen Mills.
The board determined that the proposed building would cause serious injury to the amenity, legibility, special character and setting of three protected structures. The board stated that the scheme would cause serious injury to the visual amenities and presentation of the Liffey quays conservation area.
It also found that the scheme would set an undesirable precedent for development within a conservation area and adjacent to historic buildings and protected structures.
The appeals board also noted that due to the height, scale and massing of the building it would constitute a visually jarring structure.
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In its appeal against the February 2023 Dublin City Council refusal of planning permission, SRM Book and Cook Ltd advanced an alternative plan to reduce the scheme by one storey to seven.
In the appeal, planning consultant Kevin Hughes argued that the scheme did not represent overdevelopment of the site.
Mr Hughes said that the plans for the development had achieved a high standard of contemporary architecture which was appropriate in improving the visual amenity of the immediate and wider streetscape of Ormond Quay Lower “and has been designed to a scale which is appropriate in the context of setting a suitable precedent for the efficient future development of similar city centre locations”.
In response, the operator of the Grand Social venue, Taurus Management Consultancy Ltd, objected with planning consultant Suzanne McClure arguing that the scheme “would have a profoundly negative impact on the Grand Social and its ongoing commercial viability”.
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