Sir, – I would like to add a personal note to the dialogue regarding the Waterfront South Central proposals submitted by the Ronan Group.
In the past, both Zaha Hadid and Norman Foster have believed in the sort of height now being proposed in the Dublin docks.
It’s normal for former European dock areas to regenerate with height.
The project is tailored to limit its influence over the historic city centre, carefully measured, providing a distant focus to open vistas but not visible from important enclosed city-centre urban spaces. No harm will be done, only inspired connectivity, making this underused area more accessible, more inviting, more vital.
We don’t expect Dublin City Council to inspire a vision of this nature. That is the job of the innovator and the visionary. We do hope, however, that they can embrace the vision.
In the mid-1980s, I worked with IM Pei and César Pelli on ideas for Canary Wharf in London, even before Paul Reichmann was on the scene. It transformed the economy of east London.
In the late 1990s, I helped Swiss-Re Insurance conceive the first tower in the City of London for 25 years, initially against the wishes of the planners, but the “Gherkin”, as it became known, sealed the current vibrancy and security of that world city.
I am proud to be part of the Ronan Group team, ready to make a paradigm shift in the fortunes of Dublin’s Docklands with a highly sustainable development of architectural excellence and substantial commodity.
We call upon those responsible for the future of the city to grasp this opportunity with us. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD COLEMAN
Architectural Principal
of Citydesigner,
Townscape and Heritage
Consultant,
London.
Sir, – What I find I inappropriate about this recent high-rise debate is that an article promoting it, by the man who wants to build it, was published at all (Johnny Ronan, "Tall buildings must be part of Dublin's future", Weekend, March 6th).
He spends enough on ads promoting his business, so this additional support was unnecessary. – Yours, etc,
SHEILA DEEGAN,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – To judge by the debate on building heights, it seems the only two options are low-density semis or tower-blocks of the type currently under discussion.
The alternative is overlooked. The boring compromise, the four- to six-storey storey street block such as those that make up the most liveable and human-scaled great city centres.
A critical aspect is that these buildings are arranged in closed street blocks. Dublin 2 is a perfect example of this but you’ll see it all over 19th-century European cities.
The downside? It doesn’t suit developers who want statement buildings.
The upside? Human-scaled, liveable, efficient, adaptable. And medium-height blocks are free of wind turbulence effects.
They also don’t wreck the skyline which belongs to clouds and our collective ceremonial buildings, both secular and spiritual. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD HERRIOTT,
Associate Professor,
Industrial Design
Design School,
Kolding,
Denmark.
Sir, – In 20 years, only three apartment buildings over 50 metres tall were “viable” to build in Dublin (Millennium Tower in 1998, Alto Vetro in 2008, and Capital Dock in 2018).
Developing these buildings is slow, expensive and high-risk for investors.
Currently, half of the apartments in Capital Dock are still vacant three years after completion, advertising rents of €2,970 to €15,000 a month
High-rise is considerably higher cost, so development tends to stall as soon as the market does not indicate high returns. This speculation does not come free, because the state incurs the burden of planning the water supply, drainage, electricity, transport, schools, services and amenities to serve a community that may never materialise.
Such public investment in infrastructure could undoubtedly deliver more housing, more quickly, with more certainty and more affordably elsewhere.
It is a question of priorities. – Yours, etc,
ORLA HEGARTY,
Assistant Professor,
School of Architecture,
Planning and
Environmental Policy,
University College Dublin,
Belfield, Dublin 4.
Sir, – May I suggest that Johnny Ronan might consider taking over the conservation of the Poolbeg chimneys in the context of his “Tall buildings must be part of Dublin’s future” treatise. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GANNON,
Kilkenny.