People passing the former Smurfit Paper Mills at Clonskeagh, Dublin 6, may have spotted a new planning notice on the site boundary. This comes some nine months after developer Gerry Gannon completed the sale of the site to Bain Capital, with planning permission for 126 apartments in blocks up to four storeys, for a sum believed to be in excess of the asking price of €18 million. Bain has been involved in residential developments in Dublin with Irish company Regency Homes.
The new application, lodged with Dublin City Council on October 29th by Harley Issuer Designated Activity Company, a company with links to Bain Capital, proposes a mixed development in four blocks, ranging in height from one to seven storeys over a basement. The proposal is for 167 apartments in three blocks – 81 one-beds, 84 two-beds and two three-beds – of which almost 60 per cent will be dual aspect. The apartment blocks are ranged along the west bank of the River Dodder.
As well as the increased number of apartments and the extra storeys, a new element, not included in the previous design, is an aparthotel with 24 units (five studios, 18 one-beds and one two-bed) fronting on to Clonskeagh Road.
Open space
The proposed development will include communal and public open space, with landscaping encompassing a walkway to the River Dodder, and two vehicular and pedestrian entrances from Clonskeagh Road. The plan includes 115 car-parking spaces and 344 bike-parking spaces.
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The brownfield site, comprising 1.2ha (almost three acres), includes the lands of the former paper mill, which operated from 1958 to 2009, and a portion of the curtilage of Nos 103 and 73 Clonskeagh Road. It is bounded by the river, by Clonskeagh Bridge, by Clonskeagh Road and by the garden walls of some properties that front on to the road.
The industrial heritage of the application site is documented by Courtney Deery Archaeology and Cultural Heritage consultants as part of the planning application. The archaeological report says sources indicate that a mill was present on this site since at least 1770; over time it functioned as an iron mill, a spade mill, a stuff mill and a paper mill.”
The development of the modern paper mill in the 1950s removed most of the former structures but archaeological assessment in 2016 of the demolition and enabling works for a previously permitted development “allowed the full recording of the remnants of the post-medieval mills that previously occupied the site” and that are shown on maps of the area. All were exposed, cleaned, investigated and recorded in situ before being backfilled.
The architectural design statement by O’Mahony Pike (OMP) submitted with the planning application describes the planning history on this site under the ownership of Gannon Homes. The first was for 88 apartments; this later increased to 96 and subsequently to 116 apartments, all with car parking and ancillary works. An additional proposal, involving alterations to 14 existing period houses on adjacent lands to provide 10 two-bed houses, two mews houses and eight apartments, was approved. Last year the planning permission for the latest scheme was extended to 2025, before the site was sold.
Design constraints
OMP’s report lists the design constraints of the site, including that part of it is within a designated conservation area, and considerations relating to existing trees and to adjacent properties. OMP describes the project as “an opportunity to create a new typology for densification of urban living . . . A key design objective is to integrate a series of open spaces with the river corridor though enhanced permeability and connectivity [to] provide a strong pedestrian-focused green environment.”
This part of Clonskeagh is mixed, with commercial units to the south, two-storey terraced redbricks fronting on to the road, three-storey Georgian houses farther along towards Ranelagh, and Clonskeagh Hospital across the road. It’s a long-established residential neighbourhood, close to Donnybrook, Milltown, the UCD campus and the city centre.
Observations on the application may be submitted to Dublin City Council until December 2nd.
