Aqua Vetro Tara Street
A landmark building at Tara Street will provide a visual identity for this key public transport node within the wider cityscape.
The tower will serve as a ‘gateway’ building, in tandem with Liberty Hall, marking the transition between the historic city core and the more contemporary fabric of the docklands to the east. The redevelopment proposes a 22-storey over double basement, mixed-use office, retail and restaurant building which will radically transform this existing disused site and its immediate context. The building form responds to and is in dialogue with the protected Kennedy’s Public House building at the junction of Tara Street Ramp; George’s Quay; neighbouring buildings along George’s Quay; and the tower of Liberty Hall, across the river. A new public realm is created, one which improves access to and integration of the existing Tara Street DART Station and the proposed Metrolink station nearby. The civic amenities of the wider Tara Street and George’s Quay area are enhanced.
Three height datum lines are established: Kennedy’s Pub; the six-storey context along the River Liffey; and the tower itself. The proposal includes new flanking structures to either side of the Kennedy’s Pub, enclosing the exposed gables and tying the Protected Structure into the new development. The ‘podium’ element of the building relates to its six-storey context, with café/restaurant uses at ground and at fifth floor level, where a setback creates a landscaped terrace with views over the River Liffey. Levels 05-20 constitute the ‘tower’ element. The plan form of the tower is derived from the concept of two interlocking rectangular planes, which create a slender elevational profile and high-quality internal space. Setbacks in the building line at level 18 create an accessible south-facing terrace. A new restaurant, bar and outdoor terrace with panoramic views of Dublin are located on the building’s penthouse floor.
At ground level, newly-formed public concourse and colonnade spaces widen the existing narrow and congested footpaths and provide a new route to the existing DART Station from Tara Street, which is currently accessed via a single entrance point on George’s Quay. The proposed colonnade offers shelter and protection for pedestrians from the heavily-trafficked Tara Street vehicular roadway.
