An Bord Pleanála has approved plans for the construction of Ireland's tallest building - a 32-storey residential tower nearly twice the height of Liberty Hall - on a site opposite Heuston Station in Dublin.
By a majority of five to two, the board overruled one of its senior inspectors, who recommended that the tower should be omitted because of its "detrimental impact on a number of very important views and buildings", including the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.
In deciding not to accept the inspector's recommendation, the appeals board said it considered that the tower "would be acceptable in terms of its visual impact, having regard to both its design quality and its particular location . . . outside the historic core of the city".
The board made its decision on the basis of the merits of the particular scheme and said it "did not consider that this should be regarded as a precedent in relation to any other proposal for a high building in the city", including the area around Heuston Station.
The proposed development, for which permission was sought by the Office of Public Works (OPW), will have a mix of uses comprising 197 apartments, 14,095 square metres of offices, a children's museum, a health club, 19 retail units, two restaurants and a pub.
The OPW said it was delighted by An Bord Pleanála's decision: "We are particularly glad that the high level of the architectural design was acknowledged in the approval and that all the major building elements proposed are now cleared for construction".
Now that planning permission had been secured, the OPW said it would be discussing "the next steps towards realising the scheme" with the Health Service Executive, the Garda and the Revenue Commissioners, who occupy parts of the seven-acre site.
"We are aware that the quality of the building designs is of paramount importance on such a sensitive site and will be at the core of our proposals for making this scheme a reality," a statement said.
However, no details of these proposals were given by the OPW.
In its submission of further information to Dublin City Council last year, the OPW said it would either "proceed with development directly via joint venture arrangement or [ the] entire development will be tendered to a single developer or consortium".
Asked whether the site would be put up for sale to developers, an OPW spokesman said: "It won't be sold."
The spokesman explained that it was "not as simple" as the adjoining Westgate site, which was sold recently by the OPW and Eircom for nearly €80 million.
Appellants against the city council's decision to approve the 32-storey tower were the Irish Georgian Society, An Taisce and the Friends of Kilmainham, mainly on the grounds that it would have an adverse impact on the setting of historic buildings in the vicinity.
Philip Green, the Bord Pleanála senior planning inspector, agreed.
In his report, he said the "newly self-confident 21st century Ireland", as it had been called, should assign equal importance to protecting its historic environment as "creating a 32-storey status symbol".
As for the OPW's argument that the height of the tower was necessary to underwrite other elements of the scheme, Mr Green said this "should not . . . carry significant weight" in determining whether it was in accordance with proper planning and sustainable development.
However, in granting permission subject to 32 conditions, An Bord Pleanála said the proposed development "would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity and would be acceptable in terms of impact on protected structures".
A spokesman for the appeals board pointed out that its newest member, Mary Bryan, had taken no part in the decision because she had been architecture officer with the Irish Georgian Society prior to her appointment to the board last March.
In a statement, the society said it "much regrets" An Bord Pleanála's decision, arguing that the scale of the tower would "have an enormous impact on the character not only of this architecturally sensitive area but also on the character of the cityscape as a whole".
However, the society said it welcomed the regeneration of the long neglected area around Heuston Station as well as the restoration of the early 18th century buildings on the site, such as the Doctor's House, and the provisions made for a children's museum.