Green light for major new research facility in Cork city
Tyndall and UCC, in a document submitted with the planning application, had said the new facility would “position Tyndall as an international leader of scale in translational research in order to play a key role in the further development of ICT innovation and impact in Ireland”.
A NEW research facility set to position Cork’s Tyndall National Institute as “an international leader of scale in translational research” has been given the green light from An Bord Pleanála (ABP) following an appeal.
The new purpose-built research facility is set to be constructed at the Distillery Fields site on the North Mall.
It will range in height from four to six storeys and will include a mix of research laboratories, office accommodation, a café, amenity spaces, an exhibition space and conference areas.
After requesting some further information, Cork City Council had in March 2022 given the go-ahead for the proposed development subject to 36 conditions, however, a third-party appeal was subsequently lodged with ABP.
The grounds of the appeal mainly centred on the height of the proposed research facility, with the appellant contending that the proposed building would “tower over other buildings in the vicinity”.
In a report, an ABP inspector deemed that the development as proposed would be “contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area” due to its height.
The inspector said that, by definition in the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028, the proposed development “would be categorised as a ‘tall building’, however the subject site is not identified as a location for such buildings in the plan”.
However, ABP has moved to overrule the inspector and uphold planning permission for the facility.
In its reasoning, the board said that a section of the development plan “provides inherent flexibility for the consideration of tall buildings, allowing for consideration of the appropriateness of this proposed development having regard to its specific context, to its detailed design and the overall site context which includes several buildings of five or six storeys”.
Tyndall and UCC, in a document submitted with the planning application, had said the new facility would “position Tyndall as an international leader of scale in translational research in order to play a key role in the further development of ICT innovation and impact in Ireland”.
This investment, they said, would result in a doubling of the Tyndall headcount by 2027.
It is proposed that the southern elevation composition of the glazed yellow brick, chimney, loading bay canopies and wall behind them are retained, refurbished and integrated into the new design for use as part of the Tyndall facility.
There are 25 conditions attached to ABP’s approval of the development.
Part of one condition stipulates that a suitably qualified archaeologist to monitor all site investigations and other excavation works must be employed.
Another states that, due to the former industrial use of the area, “there is a possibility that the site is contaminated” and therefore the services of a recognised environmental consultant in the field of land contamination must be employed to carry out a site investigation.
App?
