The Save Stephen’s Green Campaign has called on Dublin City Council to refuse planning permission for the redevelopment and substantial demolition of “iconic landmark building”, the St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre.
On behalf of the Save Stephen’s Green Campaign, Yusuf Alraqi told the Ccouncil that its objection was backed by a petition of more than 20,000 signatures calling for the building to be preserved, which he said, “should serve as a barometer for public opinion”.
In December, the owners of the centre, DTDL Ltd, lodged revised plans for the redevelopment of the shopping cnetre five months after An Coimiúsin Pleanála refused planning permission for its €100 million revamp.
The designers of the scheme said that the proposal would make an enduring contribution to the city’s built environment, setting a new benchmark for brownfield regeneration in the heart of Dublin through its “exemplar standard of urban design”.
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The scheme, designed by BKD Architects/O’Donnell + Tuomey collaboration, will have capacity to accommodate 3,000 office workers while the retail floor area at basement, ground and first floor levels will be 19,001 sq m.
However, Mr Alraqi said “that public opinion has been overwhelmingly negative in relation to the proposed plan for the shopping centre, which, despite its detractors, has become an iconic landmark building in Dublin”.
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He said that “the proposed design for the redevelopment of the site not only shows no interest in preserving this character, but it has gone out of its way to erase the building’s character which is much loved by Dubliners”.
The closing time for submissions is midnight Thursday, January 29th and the council has received 20 objections to date.
In another objection, Tony Lowes of Friends of the Irish Environment, (FIE) has told the council that “no amount of design work no matter what the quality can render an overscaled development acceptable”.
Dr Conor Broderick has told the council that rather than enhancing the architectural or social character of the area, the scheme “introduces a largely generic office-led scheme that does not respond meaningfully to its highly sensitive context”.
Charlotte O’Mahony from Bray, Co Wicklow, and who works near the shopping centre, has told the council that “the proposed changes threaten to strip away its distinctive charm and replace it with soulless modernity. It is at risk of losing its unique character due to proposed minimalistic redevelopment plans”.
Louise Morton of Howth has told the council “if the demolition of this iconic Dublin building is allowed to go ahead I do not know what hope there is for this city”.
