Public input sought ahead of new draft design for College Green and Dame St plaza

Consultants working for Dublin City Council on the public realm redesign of College Green and Dame Street are looking for public input before the design team draws up a new preliminary design for the area.

The council said previously that making College Green to Dame Street motor traffic-free would be progressed as part of the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan. The public realm redesign project would follow this.

As with all plans for a College Green plaza, buses would continue to use College Green in both directions, north-south, along the tram route between Nassau Street and Westmoreland Street/College Street.

On the public realm redesign, the council said: “Contributions will influence the team over the coming months as they develop the preliminary design for this space.”

The redesign of College Green as a plaza has been beset by problems, with An Bord Pleanála rejecting a previous plan for the area in 2018 and, following that, a new design team being dismissed because the project was expanded beyond what the tender allowed for, requiring the council to look for a new design team.

In June, it was confirmed that Irish firm Scott Tallon Walker Architects and Dutch urban and landscape design practice OKRA joined forces to lead the redesign of the planned College Green and Dame Street Plaza.

The council said the project “aims to transform Dublin’s historic core by delivering a safe, welcoming and vibrant pedestrian-friendly space at the heart of the city.” It said that the project will look to “improve and enhance the history and heritage of this unique location”, and the “new design will also prioritise universal accessibility, social inclusion, safety, sustainability, biodiversity and greening.”

The council highlighted that no formal preliminary designs have been created at this stage. There are also no reports or any other documents, just the survey. The pre-design public consultation for the College Green Dame Street Public Realm Project is to run until Midnight on Friday, November 29th, 2024.

The main part of the project includes South Great George’s Street to Trinity College Dublin, including College Green and Dame Street from Trinity College to and including the junction at South Great George’s Street.

The project also includes side streets around Dame Street and College Green, including Foster Place beside the Bank of Ireland at College Green; Fownes Street Upper, Cope Street, and Anglesea Street around the former Central Bank building; and Church Lane, St Andrew’s Street, and Trinity Street to the south of Dame Street.

The council also lists Suffolk Street as being included in the project, although it is not included in the map provided by the council.

The consultation survey can be found at engage.dublincity.ie.

4 thoughts on “Public input sought ahead of new draft design for College Green and Dame St plaza”

  1. Not that you have the answers Cian, however, the point is really why on earth this country has to consult everything into the ground over multiple rounds. Clearly we have seen that those who are against a project will always say there was not enough consultation while those who want to see it and those who want development for the greater good tend to have to be asked time again for their opinion. Such a frustrating country to live in.

    Reply

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