For us, the design process starts with being a careful listener and understanding the client’s needs and aspirations for a particular project. Then it is for us to propose a logical and creative response to those needs and aspirations. Designing for people is fundamental to this process. We aim to create buildings which improve lives and are a joy to use, which are financially viable and create value, and which minimise environmental impact and optimise energy efficiency. We design to meet current needs and anticipate future developments, so that we can build for the future as much as the present. An appreciation of place is essential to our working process; we never resort to a fixed architectural language, but work in response to the particularities of a site so that our schemes are rooted in their context.

The creation of a well designed, high quality and coherent public or common realm is essential for the delivery of this high density residential enclave. The starting point for our proposal is an idea about the landscape, the idea of ‘living in a large garden’ inspired by the existing trees and landscaping that form the perimeter of the site to Lansdowne Road. In our proposal, this dense landscaping is retained in full and is expanded into the communal courts, private streets and the central tree-lined avenue that establish this new community as an elegant neighbourhood.

The landscaping concept delivers a site development strategy that maximises space and light for each resident. A series of residential blocks establishes the hierarchy of private space, communal court, street and avenue. Each residential block is separated from its neighbour by a 16 metre wide private street and each residential block encloses a communal U-shaped open court measuring 22 metres at its narrowest. This generous layout of streets and open courts produces a stepped-form fronting Lansdowne Road, allowing the existing tree line to extend further into the site thereby reducing the visual impact of the development. Achieving these high quality aspects to the residential blocks not alone maximises the residential amenity, and therefore the value of each apartment, but also generates a sylvan neighbourhood of densely landscaped streets and squares.

In section, a gently rolling landscape is laid over the site. This luscious garden sits on a tilted plinth that inclines from street level at Shelbourne Road and gently rises to overlay 10,000 square metres of retail at the Pembroke Road end of the site. This tilted podium successfully separates the retail use and the public open space from the residential use and, apparently with ease, creates a private domain. In addition, the tilting plane allows the more economic construction of below ground car parking by minimising the extent of excavation. As described above, numerous (controlled) pedestrian links are provided across the site allowing residents and their visitor’s easy access to everything Ballsbridge can offer.

A new public plaza is created at Pembroke Road. Animated by shops, bars and restaurants this dynamic public space is a bustling meeting place at the heart of Ballsbridge and the starting point for the pedestrian route through the city block to Shelbourne Road. In strategic terms, this public square generously satisfies the requirement of Dublin City Council under Variation 21 to provide 10% of the site area as public open space.

In relation to building height, on Shelbourne Road and Lansdowne Road a shoulder parapet is established at seven storeys with two set-back storeys above parapet level. A stepped building line is established to Lansdowne Road to accommodate the existing tree band. This stepped building line allied to the proposed open-court format produces a varied, diverse and attractive facade to Lansdowne Road with the new buildings nestling into the enlarged perimeter tree band. Elsewhere, at Pembroke Road, a nine storey book-end building announces the public plaza, a forecourt to the fourteen storey landmark building. Here building height and dramatic form are used not only to emphasise the importance of this public space in the geography of Ballsbridge but also to announce this place as the gateway for an important pedestrian route through the city block to Shelbourne Road and beyond. The use of building height and dramatic form is justified by the improvement in the quality and legibility of the public realm.

All the mature trees and the boundary railings on Lansdowne Road are retained in their entirety and are incorporated into the overall landscaping proposal. The taxi rank currently located on Lansdowne Road is relocated to Pembroke Road to facilitate resident use of the Lansdowne Road site frontage. Controlled pedestrian access for residents is provided via landscaped pedestrian streets off Lansdowne Road. Discreet car-park access for residents is provided off Shelbourne Road. Door-to-door drop-off is facilitated by a dedicated private road control-accessed from Shelbourne Road, this central tree lined avenue is the most formal semi-public space of the site landscape strategy and incorporates taxi-drop-off and visitor car-parking. The private streets and the central tree-lined avenue that form the common spaces of this new neighbourhood together with a sophisticated blending of existing and proposed landscape treatments combine to enhance a coherent overall site development strategy.

From the generously landscaped open space, residents and their visitors enter an elegant lobby with concierge-controlled access to the apartments. From the lobby at street level, the resident or visitor rise a short flight to a glazed concourse at the level of the semi-private communal court. The concourse and open court are generously sized and imbue the apartment building with a sense of quality and style, here residents can receive their guests, hold informal meetings and enjoy a chance encounter. Each square will be carefully landscaped to establish an immediate sense of identity for each building; a Nordic Garden, a Mediteranean Garden, a SubTropical Garden and a Hall of Silver Birch.

Leaving the concourse, the resident circulates to his or her apartment via the relevant lift lobby or stair. A typical floor in this building (Block B) contains 16 apartments, arranged around seven cores. In total there are 139 apartments in this building, ranging from one to four bedrooms. Overall the proposed design achieves 707 units in a development with an indicative plot ration of 3.91:1 and a net to gross ratio of 0.84. All apartments fully comply with the requirements of Variation 21to the Dublin City Council Development Plan; there are no single aspect north-facing apartments, not less than 85% of the residential units have at least two aspects and all apartments have immediate access to the requisite private open space. The mix of apartments achieved is 15%-42%-30%-9%-4% for one-bedroom apartments, two bedroom apartments, two bedroom + study apartments, three bedroom apartments and four bedroom + study apartments respectively. Informing all of the apartment layouts is a sense of flexibility - sliding partitions allow spaces to be opened up or divided for different uses, while balconies offer an extension of living spaces and are deep enough for outdoor dining. All the apartments benefit from dual aspect with through natural ventilation, with independent central heating, and pre-wired for smart technology, enabling main services to be controlled remotely either on the Internet or by mobile phone. Overlooking is avoided through the provision of generous separation distances. Acoustic nuisance is avoided through the use of high performance sound proofing and appropriate design where non-compatible uses are separated at design stage. Orientation and separation distance have been carefully considered to maximise daylight and sunlight ensuring sufficient sunlight can enter habitable rooms both to provide comfort and to reduce the need for artificial light.

Our ‘green’ approach informs every design decision. We are committed to the design of buildings which minimise environmental impact and optimise energy efficiency, both in terms of initial construction and cost in use. We also possess the knowledge and expertise required to achieve this; our design team has extensive, hands-on experience of working with sustainable technologies. The design process begins with site specific climate analysis and each design iteration is thermally modelled in-house to rate the performance of any iteration against accepted energy performance benchmarks. For us, energy efficiency in architecture is not a ‘bolt-on’ remedy: it is a considered and wide-reaching questioning process which permeates every level of the design process. As a practice, we believe that building for the future can only be achieved by a combination of imagination and pragmatism by thinking both macro and micro. Above all, we believe that environmental awareness should not be viewed as a limitation of architectural potential, but as an exciting challenge which will produce a new generation of compelling, dynamic and environmentally-responsible buildings.

The proposed development utilises the land efficiently through appropriate residential densities, reducing the need to commute to work and providing links to existing public transport routes adjacent to the site. Alternative energy sources will be examined (CHP or similar) as well as sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) and waste disposal. Each residential block will use a green sedum-type roof to facilitate attenuation of surface water, rainwater harvesting will be considered during the design process. The energy performance target will be to achieve the B1 energy rating or better for all building types. Building orientation has been considered to maximise passive energy gain. Existing ecologies will be nurtured and maintained through the development process. The new landscaping scheme will provide suitable urban planting connected and integrated to the existing mature landscape to the perimeter of the site.