Aer Rianta's plans for another arrivals/departures pier at Dublin Airport will result in the loss of the last remaining uninterrupted view of the original terminal building, according to an appeal submitted to An Bord Pleanala.
The building is regarded as one of the most important works of 20th-century architecture in Ireland.
The appeal has been lodged by Ms Catherine FitzGerald, a Limerick-based architect and granddaughter of the late Desmond FitzGerald, who headed the Of fice of Public Works architectural team which designed the original building in the International Style and completed it in 1940.
Mr Sean Rothery, author of Ireland and the New Architecture 1900-1940, has described it as "simply the most important building of its type in Ireland" and one of the first to be included in the Council of Europe's inventory of important 20th-century buildings in Europe.
In defence of her grandfather's work, Ms FitzGerald has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala against a decision by Fingal County Council to grant planning permission for the extension, Pier D, which would provide 64,000 square feet of additional space.
The appeal is expected to receive support from the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, which awarded the original terminal its gold medal, and by DoCoMoMo, an international body for the documentation and conservation of Modern Movement buildings.
In her letter, Ms FitzGerald says the importance of the building was recognised by Fingal County Council in 1993 when it was scheduled as a List 1 building in the county plan, yet the erection of Pier D would involve demolishing its airside passenger portal.
Although the location plan shows Pier D extending from the original building on a radial axis, Ms FitzGerald maintains that larger-scale plans show this is not the case, primarily to avoid obscuring views towards the tarmac from the new VIP suite, recently completed.
The appeal notes that International Style buildings were intended to be "distinct objects in the landscape", but the original terminal, already compromised by Pier A, would be "dwarfed" by Pier D, contributing one more element to the "general morass" of planning at Dublin Airport.
"The large scale and proximity of proposed Pier D will obscure the only remaining airside view of the building's most graceful aspect - its unique cantilevered semicircular flying decks and the termination of its curved balconies with their rounded bay windows," it says.
The proposed new pier would extend nearly 700 feet from the original terminal, amounting to 1.5 times its length. Unlike the slender proportions of Pier A, which is 544 feet long, it would be over 90 feet wide, terminating in a carousel with a diameter of 165 feet.
Ms FitzGerald says the proposed pier would interfere significantly with the structure, architectural integrity and overall set ting of the original terminal and that it is also premature, pending the production of an approved master plan for Dublin Airport.
She proposes that the scale and mass of Pier D be reduced and that the airport as a whole would be better served by restoring the "graceful" interiors of the original terminal as a transfer lounge, with some retail uses, instead of using it mainly as office space.
"At a time when air travel was unusual and less security-burdened, this building came to represent the glamour of a pioneering age," she says. "With famous people often passing through its lounges and decks, it was like an ocean liner permanently docked near the city."
Her appeal also queries how the planning application was processed, without any indication on file that an opinion was sought from the Fingal county architect, Mr David O'Connor, or that there were any consultations with the Office of Public Works.
Despite the building's listed status, the appeal says it would appear that the Fingal planners failed to consult the Heritage Council or Duchas, the Heritage Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, and that An Taisce, a prescribed body under the Planning Acts, was also not consulted.
Ms FitzGerald has urged An Bord Pleanala to refuse permission for the scheme by Aer Rianta's technical services department, in the hope that this will lead to a revised design more "in sympathy with a building that is worthy of display rather than obscurity".
