George's Place, Rapid Delivery Housing, Dún Laoghaire

The development at Georges Place is built on a brownfield former Council depot site in the heart of Dún Laoghaire Town centre. The site enjoys good local connections to public transport and is located close to the amenities and services of the main street. A long standing ambition of the County Development Plan for this area is to strengthen the links between the main street and the seafront to create greater footfall as a means to regenerate the area. It is also an objective to increase the residential population of the town centre in order to sustain local services. Allied to this is Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s ambitious drive to achieve the highest standard of energy efficiency.

The development advances these objectives. The layout creates a new street to open up formerly closed depot lands in order to create pedestrian access to the seafront. The design provides 12 high quality energy efficient A1 rated dwellings with front and rear garden space that are suitable for families. Despite each dwelling having own door access, densities of 67 dwellings per hectare are achieved so that valuable serviced urban land is sustainably used.

The architectural form of the development promotes a high degree of overlooking and passive surveillance to public areas. Parking is provided on street with new indented parking bays and in court parking. Tree planting has been integrated into car parking to minimise its visual impact. The use of ‘home zones’ provides informal play and amenity space and creates a strong sense of place for both residents and visitors.