Images of College Green as a civic space for Dublin released
- Thu 11 May, 2017
Earlier this week, Dublin City Council released details of the proposed design for College Green as a civic space in the heart of Dublin.
Designed by Dixon Jones/Paul Keogh Architects, workign with the council, the proposed design has new pedestrian priority space to improve the quality of the city’s public realm. The newly shaped College Green development will be a dramatic 7,300 sq. metre area for people to enjoy in the heart of the city centre. The tree line and granite paved space has also been designed to facilitate major public gatherings and processional events through the city. It has the capacity to accommodate up to 15,000 people and will be fully equipped with the infrastructure required to stage large public events.
According to the council, to enhance the views of the historic buildings and optimise the space for public events, the existing trees will be removed and 22 new trees will be planted. The Henry Grattan and Thomas Davis monuments will be restored and retained as key focal points on an axis with the gates of Trinity College. The Thomas Davis monument will be relocated slightly further west of its current position. There will be a defined cycle route to allow cyclists traverse the new civic space to connect with cycle lanes to the east and west of the space.
Adding a playful element to the new space, there is an open water sculpture, with 32 individual water jets which will be controlled depending on the seasons and events taking place at College Green.
Other features include:
- A new turning circle for buses at the western approach to the space.
- Taxi ranks currently in the College Green area will be relocated to adjacent streets.
- There will be two-way traffic routes for taxis, buses and the new Luas Cross City running in a north-south direction around the front of Trinity College.
The council will submit the project to An Bord Pleanála for consideration later this month (May 2017). Subject to planning permission, construction of the College Green civic space is scheduled to commence in January 2018 following a public tender process and will take a year to complete.
