FROM THE ARCHIVES:A competition to provide a "framework plan" requiring the greatest number of people to be on the streets of Dublin's Temple Bar for the longest possible period each day was described by Environment Correspondent Frank McDonald. –
JOE JOYCE
TWELVE TEAMS of architects have been invited to participate in a competition to draw up a “framework plan” for the Temple Bar area of Dublin, with the aim of converting the policy objectives for its renewal and development into outline architectural proposals.
A statement from Temple Bar Properties Ltd., the State company set up earlier this year to spearhead the project, said the participants constitute “a well-balanced mix of large and small, long-established, new and young practices”, a cross-section of Irish architecture today.
The winner will receive a prize of £5,000 as well as a commission from Temple Bar Properties for at least one significant building or space in the area, as well as being retained to advise on the continuing development of the framework plan. Others will get work, too. The 22-page brief for the competition, which was personally approved by the Taoiseach, Mr Haughey, says the renewal and development of the Temple Bar area “is accepted as a key element in the wider objective of securing the regeneration of Dublin’s inner city”.
In the Dáil last May, Mr Haughey said the aim was to “build on what has been taking place in the area spontaneously and to create a living, bustling cultural and tourist quarter”.
The brief notes that the EC Commission is providing up to £3.6 million towards the cost of recobbling streets, the provision of new street lighting and the development of public spaces, including an east-west pedestrian link. The competitors for the “framework plan” are being asked to have regard to pedestrianisation, traffic movement and parking, public open spaces, and the proposed pedestrian route from Cecilia Street to Crampton Court – though they may suggest suitable alternatives.
The have been told to “assume that all existing buildings are capable of being repaired” because it is the policy of Temple Bar Properties to retain “as many (of these) as practicable”. They are also to assume that “archaeological issues in the area can be resolved”.
Other key factors include the provision of residential accommodation throughout the area, both on the upper floors of existing buildings and in new developments, as well as streetscapes and “the need to encourage movement and activity, particularly at the western end”.
The brief identifies as a “major policy aim” to establish patterns of movement in the whole area “such that the numbers of people actually on the streets are as high as can possibly be achieved and that this should be sustained for the longest possible period each day”.
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