If you are anywhere near Dublin indeed, anywhere in Ireland be prepared to hear about Adamstown. Put simply, it is the largest mixed-use project ever attempted in the country.
Located in the Lucan/Clondalkin area, 16km west of Dublin’s city centre, the new urban district is being created on a greenfield site adjoining the main Dublin-Kildare railway line.
Covering some 223 sq km, the site falls within the administrative area of South Dublin council. The council is the third-largest local authority in the Irish Republic, catering to a population (in 2002) of 240,000, with commensurate housing needs.
South Dublin’s masterplan sees construction at Adamstown proceding over the next 10 years, until, at completion, the development provides as many as 10,000 homes for around 25,000 people. There will also be 125,500m2 of non-residential development, including retail, leisure, office and civic/cultural uses. The plan also includes around 30ha of public open space.
Shane Daly, a director at Gunne New Homes, which is agent on the scheme, says: “The aim is to provide a self-contained and sustainable community, and there is a commitment to provide physical and social infrastructure and services.”
This provision is something which, according to Marie Hunt, director and head of research at CB Richard Ellis, which is acting on the project, has led to private-sector investment in infrastructure. This is a new departure for the Irish market.
Primary landowners
A private joint-venture company, Chartridge Developments, has been established among the primary landowners and developers to introduce this infrastructure.
The primary landowners include Castlethorn Construction, the developer of the first-phase housing, at Adamstown Castle; Maplewood Developments; and Tierra, which includes a group of local landowners.
The infrastructure, to be built in phases, will include a railway station only 15 minutes from Dublin’s Heuston Station, a turnaround facility (so trains can start and terminate at the station), bus corridors, roads, schools, parks, community buildings, childcare facilities and drainage networks.
Adamstown has been designated a strategic development zone, and is the first scheme in a government initiative to fast-track planning for starter homes, particularly within Dublin’s commuter belt.
The SDZ initiative was introduced following recommendations in the 1998 and 1999 Bacon Reports, commissioned by the government from economic consultant Peter Bacon, on how to contain spiralling house prices in the country.
Its aim is to get complicated planning issues out of the way at the start of a project, then fast-track all further applications, allowing no further access to the complaints procedure of Ireland’s planning authority, An Bord Pleanala.
What this means for developers is that, although the early stages of an SDZ project will be time-consuming and expensive, all further phases will be streamlined, and time spent waiting for decisions on planning applications will be cut from as long as three years down to an estimated three to six months. Adamstown has cleared these hurdles.
Move away
The launch of the Adamstown project marks a deliberate shift by both the South Dublin council and the Irish government in the planning and design of communities. The future focus of such projects will move away from the suburban housing estate format, which relies heavily on private transport, to alternatives that promote the use of rail, bus, walking and cycling links.
However, this does necessitate the availability of a sizeable landbank, otherwise initial costs would prove prohibitive and there would not be sufficient space for infrastructure and community-oriented facilities.
Community buildings
Development in Adamstown is to be based on a traditional urban town and village format, with a network of streets, squares, public parks and gardens. Residential, commercial, public and community buildings will be mixed in close proximity.
Signs are that the Irish public is taking to the concept. Buyers queued for flats and houses at the beginning of 2006, with prices for one-bedroom apartments of 50-54m2 starting at €280,000, and two-bed units of 79-87m2 from €320,000. Four-bedroom houses of 143m2, with a study and garage, cost from €520,000.
CBRE’s Hunt says that these prices are similar to those found in Lucan, a nearby well-established suburb. At launch, agents had lists of more than 2,000 potential buyers ready to snap up properties at the 330-unit Adamstown Castle phase.
The level of commercial development is still up for debate but will consist of up to 32,000m2 of retail floorspace. The central commercial centre will have a large anchor tenant, at least one large supermarket, a library, medical centre, health and fitness club, bars and restaurants. The centres will contain offices and flats on their upper floors.
Peter O’Brien, economic planner at international architecture, planning and design consultancy Llewelyn Davies Yeang, says that, apart from Shannon in 1982, this is the first Irish venture into planned communities.
He says that such projects in the UK have not been so successful, owing to a lack of infrastructure and community facilities. But he sees the provision of infrastructure in tandem with residential development as a positive sign. “It is,” says O’Brien, “the first time I can remember the masterplan devised by a planning authority being referenced in a developer’s promotional material.”
Fionnuala Lennon, senior executive planner at South Dublin council, says that Adamstown is “a blueprint for how other large-scale developments should be delivered”.
The project has, Lennon adds, been very successful so far, with a significant amount of infrastructure already under way and the first residents due to move in this month. She also feels that residents of surrounding areas, while initially sceptical, are keeping an open mind about whether the promised infrastructure, which will also benefit them, will appear on schedule.
South Dublin council will have a chance to repeat the Adamstown model. In July, the government designated another SDZ of some 170ha in the Balgaddy-Clonburris area east of Adamstown.
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1998 The land at Adamstown is zoned to provide for residential communities in accordance with South Dublin council’s development plan 2001 South Dublin council adopts a local area plan for Adamstown in July. The government designates Adamstown a strategic development zone 2002 The council prepares a draft planning scheme for Adamstown in December. This is displayed in public until February 2003, during which time submissions are received March-April 2003 Received reports are submitted to the council, proposing changes to the draft planning scheme. The council also proposes its own changes May 2003 Following meetings, at which all proposed changes are considered, the council adopts the draft planning scheme, subject to variations and modifications June-July 2003 Adoption of the draft planning scheme is proposed to An Bord Pleanala (the planning board) in June September 2003 An Bord Pleanala approves the scheme June 2004 The first planning application for development in the Adamstown SDZ is submitted to South Dublin council September 2004 Planning permission is granted for the first application January 2006 First buildings appear in the Adamstown Castle development September 2006 First residents expected to occupy their new homes in Adamstown |
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The development is based on a traditional urban town and village format, with a network of streets, squares and publicparks |
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Source: South Dublin Council |
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