Last week we gave you a general overview of the City Architects Division and the work that we do. This week we’re focusing on Housing, the area which makes up the lion’s share of our current programme.

It’s essential that we increase construction of new homes and while the economic crisis caused a dramatic slowdown in delivery, it didn’t stop. A recent press query to Dublin City Council asked how many homes were City Architects the ‘lead architects’ for over the past five years (as opposed to delivery through external consultant architects). The journalist clarified that they had been informed that the answer was ‘zero’. The answer is, in fact, 856 homes. This total combines projects that range from new developments on brownfield sites to refurbishment projects that bring vacant and uninhabitable flats back into use and is inclusive of projects that are anywhere between design stages and practical completion.

City Architects also work with excellent architectural consultants that are procured through public tender. When we include homes being delivered in collaboration with architectural consultants in the same period, the overall total rises to 1342.

The private sector is intrinsic to housing projects delivered by Dublin City Council. We rely on consultant architects and quantity surveyors to augment our in-house capacity; we are wholly reliant on consultant engineers for new build developments and a multitude of other construction sector professionals; and of course, private sector contractors to build the homes.

A good example of collaboration between City Architects, consultants and the construction sector is the ‘rapid build’ programme. This is a strategy to fast-track the delivery of housing through pre-fabrication and Design and Build contracts. Of the 222 two-storey terraced homes being delivered under this programme (across seven sites), 152 will be complete by the end of this year and the remaining 70 will be on site. We are now investigating if this approach is suitable for multi-storey apartment developments as apartments will be more appropriate on future development sites.

This is just an overview and the images below show a sample of recent and current projects that we’re involved with. Over the next months, we’ll go into more detail on some of the projects as well as areas of work as they reach key stages – programmes such as the Housing Lands Initiative (Public Private Partnerships), Part V, the flat complex regeneration programme, projects by AHBs (‘Approved Housing Bodies’) and others.

Tune in next week for an update on Public Realm projects!

We are delighted that Rathmines Crescent is the first project in Ireland to be awarded with the Home Performance Index label which allows housing providers and private developers to highlight the quality and sustainability of their homes.

The certificate was presented to Dublin City Council by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Simon Coveney TD and Pat Barry CEO of the Irish Green Building Council.

Pat Barry CEO of the Irish Green Building Council stated “ We are delighted to award the first certificate to Dublin City Council for social housing, as this demonstrates sustainability is about skills, choices and design and not about additional cost.”

Meeting with residents of the scheme, Minister Coveney noted “Energy efficiency should be at the heart of all our building projects.  It is important that we build all our social housing to the same quality in terms of energy efficiency and design as we saw here this morning.”

Rathmines Crescent was designed by City Architects  and built to the high standard needed to meet the award requirements by Dunwoody & Dobson contractors.

(Left-to-right: Kathleen Cogan, Loreto Augusta and Michelle Cogan who are residents of Rathmines Crescent.)

Photos of the Rathmines Crescent scheme:

CREDITS

Developer: Dublin City Council, Housing Department

Architect: Dublin City Council, City Architects Division

Quantity Surveying: Dublin City Council, Quantity Surveyors Division

Structure: Fearon O’Neill Rooney Engineers

Services: Hayes Higgins Partnership

Landscaping: Stephen Diamond Associates

Health & Safety: Crean Salley Associates

Arborist: Joe McConville & Associates

Main Contractor: Dunwoody & Dobson

Mechanical: Niall Gaffney Plumbing & Heating Ltd.

Electrical: H. Shiels

Landscaping: SAP Group

Above Photographs of the Project: Ros Kavanagh

Above Photographs of the Minister’s Launch:  Shane O’Neill Photography

Housing Regeneration – Ballymun, Dublin

Dublin City Council through City Architects has been building links with Singapore, a city that applies a strong design focus in urban development. City Architect Ali Grehan was invited to Singapore recently to see the impressive work being done by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and share insights about Dublin’s design approach. In addition to making a presentation to the Centre for Liveable Cities Ali did an interview for the URA’s publication Skyline, an edited version of which is published today and can be found here.

The full Q&A is below.

What is good design to you and what does that mean for cities?

Good design works for people, bad design works for itself – this is the most direct statement I can make about design. The distinction affects everything, but is manifested most intensively in cities, where there is a high degree of interdependency between people.

The design of cities is about our approach to place making; our governance systems and strategies. Design in cities is about how this approach is manifested in the quality of the built environment.

Cities hold the key to solving problems of our age – climate change, peak oil, inequitable distribution of resources. Managing urban growth is the development issue of our age. We need to see urbanisation as an opportunity, not a threat. We will all benefit – urban and rural communities – if we manage this growth by design. Ultimately, design connects cities and connected cities are more humane, attractive and competitive.

What does a great liveable and memorable city look like to you?
A great city for me is one that achieves excellence in the ordinary. Most places and buildings must work quietly and collectively as a backdrop or foil, providing a setting for those buildings that have legitimate call to be distinctive. My iconic and memorable city experiences are usually drawn from the routine. I think this is true for many people; we are rethinking the meaning of ‘iconic’ in place making.

Share with us some of the interesting projects you are working on right now.
Dublin is emerging very successfully from the economic crisis and development is happening again. The projects we are working on now were devised during the downturn, when we had to pause and look for new ways of funding and delivering critical infrastructure.

Parnell Square Cultural Quarter Artist’s Impression

One such project is the Parnell Square Cultural Quarter, which is being philanthropically funded by US Real Estate Investors Kennedy Wilson. Parnell Square is the oldest and finest of Dublin’s Georgian Squares, dating from 1757 and is the northern tip of what we call Dublin’s historic Civic Spine. The area around Parnell Square is also one of the most densely populated and culturally diverse parts of the city; however, it has fallen into decline and dereliction over recent decades. This intervention captures Parnell Square’s potential to be a catalyst for renewal within the historic city centre. The project is at detail design and consultation stage and has been embraced by the government as a flagship project to mark the centenary of Ireland’s independence.

Parnell Square Cultural Quarter project launch (l to r) Dublin City Architect Ali Grehan, Kennedy Wilson Europe director Peter Collins, and Dublin City Librarian  Margaret Hayes.

A larger project which is enormously significant for the city is the development of Dublin’s Docklands. Development here had stalled in 2008 but has been re-invigorated through the new Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) Planning scheme launched in May 2014. The SDZ covers an area of 22 hectares and provides for 2,600 new homes and 366,000 square metres of commercial space. It has already facilitated the fast tracking of development proposals – currently at the design stage – in excess of one billion euro in value.

Dublin Docklands

What are some of the crucial ingredients we need for creating people-friendly cities?
People-friendly cities are clear, generous, appropriately scaled, positive to context and well made. This statement describes place making criteria I devised for Dublin City Council’s Development Plan. An important criterion that we are anxious to promote is ‘generosity’; particularly generosity in the design of functional requirements thereby creating opportunities for enjoyment in use.

People-friendly cities are also inclusive places. Inclusivity and Universal Design principles should inform how we make our urban environment. Universal Design goes far beyond issues of physical access alone. In Dublin, the inclusiveness of the built environment is now enshrined in the thinking driving policy, new development and regeneration. For example, Dublin is the first capital city in the world to adopt a city-wide approach to becoming age-friendly and is implementing a five year plan to 2019 in collaboration with agencies representing the needs of older people.

Dublin House 2.0 Pilot Project

Making cities diverse and people-friendly yields social and economic benefits; a city that includes everyone is more vibrant and innovative, because innovation comes from difference.

How do you balance people choosing what they want, with planning for needs?
This must be the most difficult challenge facing City representatives and managers. It is very hard to reconcile short term demands with long term planning goals. Planning has to proceed on the basis of mutual trust and respect, which only develops if everyone believes that the issue is being described truthfully.

The designer has a very important role to play here in that designers can visualise and communicate issues and possible solutions in ways that are understood by all. It is remarkable how people will accept a solution once it is developed through meaningful consultation and explained clearly. We have had many experiences where controversial issues were accepted by the local community. A recent example is a flood defence project along Dublin Bay, which was initially rejected by the community but which is now progressing well after being redesigned in collaboration with local community members.

Dublin is ranked the 9th most bike friendly city in the world. What are some of the key strategies that have worked well for the city?
Dublin’s high ranking as a Bike Friendly city is largely due to the success of the Dublin Bikes scheme. This is a free public bike rental scheme introduced by Dublin City Council in 2009. The genesis of the programme was design led in that the first stations were located close to homes and work, not tourist destinations. This meant that the bikes were immediately useful for ordinary Dubliners and quickly became embedded in the life of the city.

Dublin Bikes, introduced by Dublin City Council in 2009

8 million trips have been taken to date; the scheme is so popular that it is expanding rapidly and has spawned independent apps to help people find available bikes and docking stations. We do have much more to do as a City in making the streets more cycle and pedestrian friendly but the success of the Dublin Bikes scheme has transformed people’s attitudes to cycling in Dublin.

How do we get everyone to understand and use shared spaces well? How do we develop a “successful public realm”?
Public space is the glue that holds the city together; it’s where the city and citizens meet. It can be a hotly contested space!

O’Connell Street Public Realm Works

A rule of thumb in developing a successful public realm is an understanding that all municipal departments have a contribution to make. This isn’t usually the case; the design and management of the public realm is often seen as a singular issue, primarily to do with roads and traffic or paving and landscaping. However, the quality of the buildings edging the public realm is just as important. In order to achieve a high quality public ream we must ‘consider places before buildings’ and we must adopt an interdisciplinary approach throughout.

There is a growing culture of participation and innovation in architecture and urban design for Dublin. How do you get people involved?
Dublin City Council has a strong tradition of public consultation in developing policy and capital programmes, for example, communities are actively involved in designing Housing Regeneration projects. In recent years, the City has established participatory platforms through which we engage with people and test new ideas.

Initiatives such as PIVOT Dublin, Designing Dublin, BETA and the Studio have helped us experiment and innovate; inspired interdisciplinary collaboration across all sectors; created strong networks; offered opportunities to celebrate design impact and translated idea to action through projects.

What are some of your impressions of Singapore’s architecture and city as a whole? Any interesting insights that may be relevant to Dublin?
Singapore is green! This was my first and very favourable impression of Singapore. Extensive and innovative urban greening is a huge advantage to a city as it helps make higher density living acceptable and more attractive. This is an important lesson for Dublin and other cities. I was also very impressed with the design of apartment buildings and the high standard of building maintenance.

What are some examples of costly mistakes cities make when they ignore design? How can Singapore avoid these?
City issues are dynamic and interdependent – a factor of scale and complexity and context. Design can help us understand the complexity, find appropriate solutions and avoid costly mistakes.

Our mistakes range from badly connected transport infrastructure to inadequate management systems for the huge number of apartment complexes built in the last few decades. These mistakes have one thing in common; they are borne out of decisions taken in isolation and for a single purpose. The fundamental value of design is that it is collaborative, holistic and based on evidence and understanding. You could say it is simply ‘joined-up’ thinking, much sought after but often absent.

Light is something we all take for granted, but once captured it offers a new dimension to how we see things, and the spaces we inhabit.  Kevin Street Library is about many things but primarily about the light.

‘The exact moment I understood why Betsy was I love with Slievemore’ by John Michael Nikolai

We happened to stay on probably one of the dullest weeks of the summer in Achill this year.  Even so the light in Achill never ceases to inspire and astound. At dinner one night on the island I admired a photograph on the wall, but quickly dismissed it as being a‘fake’,  it was too Dali-esque to be real. It so happens that the next day I was strolling along the beach in Keel and happened upon a tiny piece of heaven with a white picket fence and sky blue windows, the studio of John Michael Nikolai, an American artist who loves Achill, and the light.

At the same time during the summer Kevin Street Library was shrouded in scaffolding internally and externally. Clancy Construction were carrying out the remedial works to the external envelope of the building. The raking out of the joints had been completed and the new repair works to the bricks and the sandstone crests were underway. It was painstaking, meticulous work was carried out by Oldstone Conservation Ltd.

Crest prior to restoration             

Building up new sections of crest

Finishing touches on the new crest

Completed crest detail

Completed ‘Public Library’ detail

The salvaged slates were re-instated on the front apex roof and complimentary blue Bangor slates were used on the rear lantern roofs. The original ladder framed clerestory windows were carefully stripped back and restored including the original winding mechanisms

Clerestory galzing prior to restoration

restored brass and steel winder

clerestory glazing after restoration 

Completed roof works

Works to date have been overseen on site by Casey O’ Rourke Associates Ltd who acted as Lead Designer on the Phase 1 of the project, with additional conservation input from City Architects Division.

And now finally in the latter part of the year the scaffolding has been removed internally to capture the light again within 4 no. interconnecting spaces. We are starting now with a blank canvas, to commence Phase 2 of the internal refurbishment of the Library.

Roof under construction

Competed roof works

Competed roof works with restored cupola

 Image of one internal space

See also our post from April about the restoration of the library’s cupola

Congratulations from all at Dublin City Architects to our former colleague Giulia Vallone on her success in the 2014 RIAI Awards.   The Clonakilty 400, Urban Design Masterplan by Cork County Council Architects beat off stiff competition to secure the Public Choice Award.

A shortlist for the Public Choice Award was chosen and over 12,700 votes were cast.  Of these over 16% went to the Clonakilty Project.  In total there were 15 awards presented at a ceremony in DCC offices last month.  The projects chosen are located throughout the country and abroad and include the recent works at Cleary’s Department Store on O’Connell Street by Jennings Design Studio, Airfield Evolution in Dundrum by Solearth Architecture, and Granby Park, the extraordinarily popular Pop-Up Park in Dominick Street.

Giulia worked with Dublin City Architects between 2002 and 2004 where she worked on the Memorial Court Senior Citizen Housing Scheme in Kilmainham.  This building also received recognition at the RIAI Awards, being highly commended in the 2008 awards.

We’re looking forward to hearing about the potential of Green Roofs in our city on May 28th at the latest talk presented by the Irish Landscape Institute.

‘Green Roofs and Flood Mitigation’ will bring together the expertise of Laurance Nesbitt of Nesbitt Associates, and Peter O’Toole of O’Brien Landscaping.  It takes place at the Goethe Institute, 37 Merrion Square and kicks off at 6:30.  Topics to be covered will include the planting, installing, and retrofitting of green roofs, and what impact this can have, particularly in a Dublin context.

The lecture is free and all are welcome to what promises to be a most informative discussion.

To reserve your place, or for more information, check out the Irish Landscape Institute’s website irishlandscapeinstitute.com

]]> http://www.dublincityarchitects.ie/?feed=rss2&p=1182 0 http://www.dublincityarchitects.ie/?p=1069 http://www.dublincityarchitects.ie/?p=1069#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2014 17:11:36 +0000 http://www.dublincityarchitects.ie/?p=1069

Billed as Ireland’s largest construction and property conference, The 2014 Better Building Conference took place on Wednesday 9 April in Croke Park.  The event brought together an impressive cohort of speakers to discuss the latest trends in sustainability.  It was organised into 10 sessions over three stages.  These sessions dealt with issues as varied as government policy and building regulations, to technical information and personal experience.

 One of the major topics of the event was retrofitting, addressed in several sessions over the day.  One, particularly informative, such session was entitled ‘Sustaining Heritage’ and dealt with the matters that emerge when dealing with buildings of historic and cultural significance.  This dilemma was tackled from both the local and international perspective.  Alexandra Troi of 3ENCULT began by offered her experiences in working with historic buildings across the continent and the challenges this presents.  Following her talk, Carsen Hermann discussed the role and practices of Historic Scotland in this area.

 The retrofitting of this 13th Century, Romanesque, Public Weigh House was among the projects discussed during the Sustaining Heritage talk.  Image courtesy of 3encult.eu

The third speaker of this talk was Fergal McGirl.  Mc Girl is a member of the consortium appointed by Dublin City Council to study pre 1945 buildings in the city.  This study will attempt to classify these dwellings, assess the positives and negatives of the different typologies, and assess the impact of retrofitting from a heritage point of view.  His talk discussed the effect of work carried out in contexts ranging from North Great Georges Street and Leeson Street to Donneycarney and Marino.  Conducted with the support of a large number of organisations, the study is expected later in the year.

North Great Georges Street

Another interesting talk which brought local and international perspectives together was Deeper Green.  This talk was chaired by Brian O’Brien of Solearth Architecture and related to the Living Building Challenge. This challenge outlines a set of seven criteria for ecological building and is considered the pinnacle of sustainable design.  All of these elements, arranged into ‘petals’, must be met to achieve this rating, making this a particularly rigorous challenge.

 The Bullitt Centre, Seattle

One building to fulfil these requirements is the Bullitt Centre in Seattle.  Chris Rogers, developer of the scheme with Point 32, was at hand to explain his experiences in meeting the challenge.  Accompanying him were three speakers, Davie Philip of Cultivate, Feidhlim Harty of FH Wetland Systems, as well as Brian O‘Brien, giving an Irish take on these matters.  This was demonstrated using local examples such as the Daintree Building on Camden Street, and Cloughjordan Eco Village.

The Daintree Building Camnden Street, Dublin, Solearth Architecture, 2005

The conference was concluded with a pair of debates chaired by John Bowman of RTE.  The topics for discussion were ‘The Transition to Near Zero Energy Buildings’ and ‘Achieving an Energy Retrofit Revolution in Ireland’.  Each debate had a separate panel drawing on years of experience in both the Building and Ecological industries, resulting in a particularly informative end to the 2014 conference.

A group of volunteers learning ecological building techniques at Cloughjordon Eco Village,  image courtesy of ecocongregationireland.com

For more information on the Better Building Conference see betterbuilding.ie

The Wood Quay venue was packed to capacity on Thursday 13^th February for the City Limits conference.  Alongside the ten invited speakers, the total attendance on the night was tallied at 210 people.  It was unfortunate however that, owing to the size of the venue, not everybody who arrived could be accommodated.  The event itself was organised by Dublin City Architects in association with Cathal O’Sullivan to contribute to the ongoing debate on how to utilise the large number of underused spaces in the City centre.  Chaired on the night by City Architect Ali Grehan, City Limits featured a number of speakers from a variety of backgrounds with an audience keen to contribute to the discussion.

The night was opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn.  In his address he discussed the motivations and ambitions behind the proposed vacant land levy.  This issue was further elaborated on by Dublin City Council’s senior planner, Kieran Rose.  The proposal was widely supported by those in attendance with many questions, comments, and suggestions coming from the floor.

The diverse range of guest speakers outlined a number of schemes in the city which have used these spaces.  Among them was Sam Bishop, representing UpStart.  In his talk, Sam discussed the hugely popular Granby Park .  This park brought thousands of visitors to an unused site in Dominick Street in the summer of 2013.  Also speaking on the night was Sophie Grafin van Maltzen.  In her presentation, she spoke of the Art Tunnel  which transformed a space near Smithfield, left vacant since the construction of the adjacent Luas Line.  The Audience were also shown a video by Jonathan Legge of Makers and Brothers, who outlined his experience in setting up a small pop up shop in Dame Lane.  This initiative gave on-street presence to his thriving on-line business.

Granby Park,  Dominick Street,  September 2013,  Image courtesy of builtdublin.com 

http://builtdublin.com/granby-park-dominick-street-dublin-1/

The Ballymun Rediscovery Centre  was represented on the night by Tara Singleton.  Among the topics she discussed was the ongoing work of the centre in its community.  Since 2005 the centre has provided community employment and training via innovative reuse enterprises which use waste and unwanted materials as a resource and raw material for new product design.  The audience were also informed on the centres’ plan to centralise its activities in the iconic Ballymun Boilerhouse and the challenges and opportunities this presents.

In addition to these celebrated projects were a number of new ideas for tackling vacancy in the city.  Among these was co-organiser Cathal O’Sullivan with his Allotment Homes Proposal.  This scheme looked at ways to provide affordable “temporary” housing using lightweight, prefabricated structures.  This project is inspired by the gap that exists between high rents and unaffordable longer term purchase.  Also addressing the issue of housing on the night was Carol Tallon of Buyer’s Broker.  She highlighted, as did Cathal, the need for a greater variety of houses on offer to meet demand.  Dublin’s City Council’s own Dublin House project was mentioned as a valuable model in this regard.

Throughout the night there was a constant stream of ideas coming from the floor.  This level of engagement was one of the many positives of the event.  Whether speaking on behalf of organisations or in a personal capacity those in attendance were keen to relay their experiences and ideas on the issues raised.

The final speaker of the night was Ray Yates of Dublin City Council Arts Office.  For several years the Arts office has helped artists access previously unused spaces.  This scheme allowed artists to make a positive contribution to spaces across the city.  During his presentation, he spoke of his experiences with the scheme and how it has evolved since its launch.  More information on this inititive is avaiable on the Dublin City Council website

Ali Grehan, addressing the audience during City Limits 

Given the large turnout and level of engagement it was inevitable that all ideas raised could not be discussed in depth.  However, as she drew the night’s proceedings to a close, Ali Grehan recognised the public’s enthusiasm and appetite for dealing with this issue. 

A follow up event is planned to City Limits.  We’ll also shortly be advertising the site disposal of our Fishamble Street plot to kick start the final phase of the Dublin House Project.  If you would like to receive information about these events or the issues raised, please contact us at design@dublincity.ie

Donal Murphy Photography

McKee Court, designed by City Architects, is a development of homes for senior citizens close to McKee Barracks and Phoenix Park. The scheme, which has been shortlisted for a Chambers Ireland Award for Excellence in Local Government,  consists of 38 apartments (36 x 1-bed and 2 x 2-beds) and a small community facility on a steeply sloping triangular site off Blackhorse Avenue in Dublin 7.

Donal Murphy Photography

The development is composed of two-storey modular blocks which are generally ‘T-shaped’ in plan (allowing for a triple aspect orientation), and are repeated to step up and around a central courtyard, following the contours of the site. Most of the ground floor units have their own private carports. Public, private and semi-private spaces are subtly defined by the use of external stairs, railings, planters and changes in the paving patterns and colours. Benches placed throughout the site and large corner windows, which resemble additional balconies when fully opened in, are designed to encourage interaction and provide passive surveillance.

Donal Murphy Photography

McKee Court Site Plan

McKee Court is designed to be low maintenance: walls are brick and self coloured render, steelworks are galvanised and unpainted, windows are of timber aluclad tilt-and-turn design which permits all windows throughout the development to be cleaned internally by residents. All the homes have ‘own-door’ access, with those on the first floor having their own private external staircases, avoiding the need for internal communal spaces requiring management.

Donal Murphy Photography

The development provides a gross internal floor area of 2,200m2 with a residential density of 39.3 units to the acre. It is heated by a district heating system and supplemented by solar-water heating. MVHR (mechanical ventilation heat recovery) systems are installed throughout and the homes achieve an average BER rating of B1.

Donal Murphy Photography

The Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin City, has remained at the centre of Dublin’s civic hospitality for 300 years. It was purchased for use as the Lord Mayor’s residence from Joshua Dawson in 1715 and was the first such official residence for a mayor in Britain or Ireland. It is historically and architecturally significant as a rare example of the early 18th century Queen Anne style architecture in Dublin.

City Architects prepared a conservation management plan for the House in 2009, setting out a vision for its future development over time. This covered proposed alterations to help the building meet the needs of users and the public in fulfilling its civic role, but also covered housekeeping and day-to-day maintenance in its management.

An important aspect of setting out the future of buildings such as this is the ability to carry out works on a step by step basis as smaller elements of funding become available on an occasional basis, often on very short timeframes. The first of this work on the Mansion House was completed last year with an energy efficiency upgrade made possible by a grant from SEAI (the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland). The upgrade was covered in the wider context of the Council’s work by the Irish Times here.

You can find out a lot more about the history of the Lord Mayor’s residence here.