Dublin Corporation plans to demolish its 20-year old Tara Street building, Liffey House, and rebuild it as "a strong contemporary building that makes a statement and contributes to urban design," according to City Architect, Jim Barrett.
The estimated cost of the redevelopment is £9 million. A design team led by Dolan and Donnelly architects has been chosen to draw up plans for a new office block to replace Liffey House, which has always been deemed unsightly and architecturally poor.
"It doesn't contribute anything to Tara Street and there is a substantial area of land between the front of the building and the back of the pavement, so it is not maximising its potential," says Barrett. " The site can sustain a much bigger, better building so it makes more sense to knock it and rebuild."
Dublin Corporation says that when plans to widen Tara Street were dropped, it gave them the opportunity to "go and create something new and spectacular".
The proposed new building will be about 6000 sq m and will be mostly office space with "possibly some ground floor retail". Subject to planning approval, Dublin Corporation expects it will be at least 12 months before building commences and at that stage, staff will be rehoused at other locations. Dolan and Donnelly architects were chosen from a short list of six. They are also involved in the Leinster House 2000 project.
"We chose them because they are a strong architect design firm, we are confident they will produce a fine piece of architecture," says Barrett.
Charlie Donnelly of Donnelly and Dolan says the design of the proposed new building is in the "very early stages".
"At the moment we really don't know exactly how it's going to look but it will be mostly office space with something nice at street level, maybe a showroom or retail of some sort."
Agents Finnegan Menton sold Liffey House to the corporation in 1997 for £3 million. The sale made good business sense as the corporation was committed to a 35-year lease of the building.
THE Corporation is currently building a £6 million 3,000 sq ft office block beside the Mansion House on Dawson Street, which it plans to lease. A spokesman says the new building will mask the "unsightly end-building" of a Georgian house on St Stephen's Green, which can be seen from Dawson Street. The proposed new Dublin Corporation building on the Liffey House site is only one of a number of projects on Tara Street.
CIE is awaiting a planning decision on a large-scale redevelopment of Tara Street DART Station, which proposes a substantial concourse on two levels with retail outlets and an office block overhead. CIE purchased an existing office block on Tara Street to accommodate the redevelopment. Apollo House, a civil service building on Tara Street, is also in line for a complete refurbishment of its facade.
