View west along North King Street. Image: Marie-Louise Halpenny. Radharc siar ar Shráid an Rí Thuaidh. Íomhá: Marie-Louise Halpenny

Designing housing regeneration projects involves bringing together many different issues: designing high densities; streetscape and urban scale; context and heritage as well as the over-riding brief of creating homes and community places. Sean Foster Place, named in memory of a child shot and killed on North King Street during the 1916 Rising, provides 30 new homes on an extremely tight strip of land along the edge of a road which was re-aligned in the 1990s.

The scheme was designed as the Council’s pilot project for Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) under its Climate Change Action Plan in the Markets Area of Dublin 7. In urban design terms the Sean Foster Place remakes a missing street edge and re-forms the northern end of the urban block stretching down to Cuckoo Lane.

The new homes comprise of 30 apartments set out over six floors with three access cores. The strip of brownfield land is bounded to the south by low buildings with a tall brick furnace chimney, formerly a distillery, with short frontages on either side to Anne Street North and Beresford Street. Its central location gives it easy access to several public transport routes including the Luas.

View of entrance areas along North King Street. Image courtesy Duggan Brothers/Donal Murphy. Radharc ar na bealaí isteach ar Shráid an Rí Thuaidh. Íomhá le caoinchead na nDeartháireacha Duggan /Donal Murphy

In recreating the missing edge to North King Street, creating an active street façade of appropriate scale was a key objective, giving rise to a two-storey core entrances and front doors to the ground level homes. The courtyard entrance in the east elevation makes a visual link between the street and the shared courtyard.

The building’s external walls are designed in brick, chosen for its robustness and given the context in the historic inner city core. At street level the apartments are recessed into the building  face to facilitate accessibility and defensible space and these recesses are picked out  with a lighter, softer hue of buff brick.

Managing surface water drainage is a key engineering issue for inner urban sites and the roof-scape therefore includes a green roof with site drainage designed to meet Sustainable Urban Drainage criteria while permeable paving in the shared courtyard allows water to naturally soak away. In the context of a densely developed site, trees and planting are important to encourage biodiversity. Active travel is also supported through the bike parking provision.

Roof terrace view. Image: Marie-Louise Halpenny. Radharc ón Léibheann Dín. Íomhá: Marie-Louise Halpenny

The orientation of the design makes best use of natural lighting and solar gain with a dual-aspect strategy for living rooms to optimise the sunlight penetration and daylight levels. South-facing balconies are supported by brick piers, which provide screening and offer protection of residential private amenity within the scheme. The private amenity spaces for the roof-level apartments have been designed as landscaped terraces.

The scheme is designed with a highly insulated building fabric including triple glazed windows, high levels of airtightness and thermally modelled details. GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag) concrete used in the structure ensures lower embodied energy in the construction. A light coloured render to the south elevation gently reflects light into the planted spaces. Highly insulated zinc cladding construction is used to provide roof level articulation at top-level terraces. A significant contribution of operational energy is supplied by renewable sources provided by air source heat pumps and photovoltaic panels at roof level and exhaust air heat pumps internal to each apartment.

Project Team

Contractor Duggan Brothers (Contractors) Ltd
Architects City Architects Division, Dublin City Council
Landscape Architects Murray and Associates
Structural & Civil Engineers Garland Consulting Engineers
M&E Services Engineers Homan O’Brien Consulting Engineers
Quantity Surveyors Austin Reddy & Company
Fire Consultant Maurice Johnson + Partners
PSDP Turner Townsend
Energy Consultants Low Energy Design
Assigned Certifier Garland Consulting Engineers

Nuair atáthar ag obair ar thionscadail athnuachana tithíochta, ní mór mórán gnéithe a thabhairt le chéile: dearaí atá oiriúnach don ard-dhlús; don sráid-dreach agus don scála uirbeach; don chomhthéacs agus don oidhreacht chomh maith leis an rud is tábhachtaí – tithe agus spásanna pobail a chruthú. I bPlás Sheáin Foster, a ainmníodh do pháiste a fuair bás de bharr a chaite ar Shráid an Rí Thuaidh le linn Éirí Amach na Cásca, soláthraítear 30 teach nua ar stráice an-chaol talún ar imeall bóthair a ndearnadh athailíniú air sna 1990í.

Dhear an Chomhairle an scéim chun go mbeadh sí ina tionscadal píolótach d’Fhoirgnimh Nach Mór Neodrach ó Thaobh Fuinnimh faoin bPlean Gníomhaithe ar son na hAeráide atá ag an gComhairle i gCeantair na Margaí i mBaile Átha Cliath 7. I dtéarmaí dearaidh uirbigh, is éard atá i bPlás Sheáin Foster ná ciumhais sráide a bhí ar lár a athchruthú, agus déanann sé an taobh ó thuaidh den bhloc uirbeach síos go dtí Lána na Cuaiche.

Tá 30 árasán atá leagtha amach ar sé urlár agus tá trí limistéar rochtana isteach orthu. Ar an taobh ó dheas tá stráice talún athfhorbraíochta ar a bhfuil foirgnimh ísle ar a bhfuil simléar foirnéise ard brící, a úsáideadh roimhe seo mar dhrioglann. Tá éadanas bóthair íseal ar an dá thaobh go dtí Sráid Anna Thuaidh agus Sráid Beresford. Tá rochtain éasca ag na harásáin ar an iompar poiblí, an Luas san áireamh, mar gheall ar an suíomh lárnach atá acu.

Interior view of balcony and neighbouring buildings including historic chimney. Image courtesy Duggan Brothers/Donal Murphy. Radharc intí de bhalcóin agus d’fhoirgnimh in aice láimhe. San áireamh tá simléar stairiúil.. Íomhá le caoinchead na nDeartháireacha Duggan Brothers/Donal Murphy

Chun an chiumhais a athchruthú a bhí ar lár i Stráid an Rí Thuaidh, ba í an phríomhaidhm ná façade sráide gníomhach ar scála cuí a chruthú. Rinneadh bealaí isteach a bhí dhá urlár in airde mar aon le príomhdoirse do na tithe a bhí ar an mbunurlár. Cruthaíonn an bealach isteach sa chlós ar an taobh thoir, nasc amhairc idir an sráid agus an clós comhroinnte.

Baineadh úsáid as brící chun ballaí seachtracha an fhoirgnimh a dhearadh. Roghnaíodh brící toisc go bhfuil siad láidir agus go n-oireann siad do chomhthéacs stairiúil lár na cathrach. Ag leibhéal na sráide, tá na hárasáin cuasaithe isteach in éadan an fhoirgnimh chun rochtain agus spásanna sochosanta a éascú. Is féidir na cuasa seo a aithint tríd an dath nios boige, níos éadroime atá ar na brící ansin.

Is saincheist thábhachtach do láithreáin uirbeacha i lár na cathrach í uisce dromchla a bhainistiú, agus mar sin, áirítear díon gorm le draenáil a chomhlíonann na critéir  don Draenáil Uirbeach Inbhuanaithe. Ag an am céanna, tríd an phábháil scagach sa chlós comhroinnte is féidir leis an uisce sileadh leis go nádúrtha. I gcomhthéacs láithreáin a bhfuil dlúthfhorbairt déanta air, tá crainn agus plandaí tábhachtach chun tacú leis an mbithéagsúlacht. Tá tacaíocht ann freisin don Taisteal Gníomhach trí phairceáil do rothair.

View west along North King Street. Image courtesy Duggan Brothers/Donal Murphy. Radharc siar a Shráid an Rí Thuaidh. Íomhá le caoinchead na nDeartháireacha Duggan /Donal Murphy

Corner detail view of street elevation/main entrance area. Image courtesy Duggan Brothers/Donal Murphy. Radharc cúinne d’ingearchló sráide/den phríomhbhealach isteach. Íomhá le caoinchead na nDeartháireacha Duggan /Donal Murphy

Baintear an úsáid is fearr is féidir as an solas nádúrtha tríd an treoshuíomh atá ag an dearadh. Tá straitéis déthreoíochta sna seomraí suí chun solas na gréine agus solas an lae a bharrfheabhsú. Tá balcóin ar aghaidh na gréine á dtacú ag piaraí bríce a chuireann príobháideachas agus cosaint ar fáil d’áiseanna príobháideacha laistigh den scéim. Dearadh na háiseanna príobháideacha do na hárasáin ar leibhéal an dín mar léibhinn tírdhreachaithe.

Dearadh an scéim le fabraic tógála ardinslithe, lena n-áirítear fuinneoga le gloiniú triarach, leibhéal ard aerdhíonachta agus sonraí a samhaltaíodh go teirmeach. Baineadh úsáid as Slaig Fóirnéise Soinneáin sa struchtúr, rud a chinntíonn go n-ídítear níos lú fuinnimh le linn na tógála. Cuireadh rindreáil le dath éadrom ar an ingearchló ó dheas a fhrithchaitheann an solas sna spásanna ina bhfuil plandaí.Úsáidtear cumhdach since ardinslithe chun comhaltadh leibhéil dín a sholáthar do na léibhinn is airde.Tagann méid shuntasach den fhuinneamh oibríochtúil as foinsí inathnuaite, mar shampla teaschaidéil le foinse aeir agus painéil fótavoltach ag leibhéal an dín agus teaschaidéil sceithaeir i ngach árasán.

Foireann Tionscadail
Conraitheoir Duggan Brothers (Contractors) Ltd
Ailtirí Rannóg Ailtirí na Cathrach, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath
Ailtirí Tírdhreacha Murray and Associates
Innealtóirí Struchtúr & Sibhialta Garland Consulting Engineers
Innealtóirí Seirbhísí M&E Homan O’Brien Consulting Engineers
Suirbhéirí Cainníochta Austin Reddy & Company
Comhairleoir Dóiteáin Maurice Johnson + Partners
PSDP Turner Townsend
Comhairleoirí Fuinnimh Low Energy Design
Deimhnitheoir Sannta Garland Consulting Engineers