€100m plan for Stephen’s Green shopping centre branded ‘bland and underwhelming’

The building’s Victorian-inspired design and iconic glass dome have been part of Dublin’s skyline since 1988, making it one of the city’s most recognisable structures.

Dublin City Council granted planning permission to DTDL Ltd, controlled and operated by Davy, for the “rejuvenation” of the shopping centre after the applicants reduced the scale and massing of the scheme.

Davy secured the green light for its redevelopment on December 14 after reportedly paying €175m for the centre, on behalf of its clients, in 2019.

An artist’s impression of the proposed development shows a complete transformation for the shopping centre’s exterior. However, others have described the designs as “bland and underwhelming”.

The plan is to replace its dome roof, arched windows and flower baskets. The new building will have up to 8 floors, including a proposed cinema and gallery space.

They plan to keep some existing stores and entrances, but also want to make it easier to get into the shopping centre from St Stephen’s Green and King Street South.

The car park will have both car and bicycle spaces, but there will be fewer parking spaces than there are now.

However, the design changes have met with some opposition, with an online petition launched to preserve the current design.

The petition states that the building is “at risk of losing its unique character due to proposed minimalistic redevelopment plans”.

It argues that the proposed changes threaten to strip away what represents the architectural heritage and cultural history of Dublin.

Local councillors have also said that some residents in the area are opposed to the change.

“It’s an iconic building, it has charm, but nobody bothered to protect the structure. The proposal is highly inappropriate; it doesn’t register with the area,” city councillor Mannix Flynn said.

Another local councillor described the changes as moving in the wrong direction.

“It’s unclear to me why the owners want to redevelop Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, a rather unique structure, and replace it with a generic-looking building. It’s a backwards step,” Fine Gael councillor Danny Byrne said.

“We need to ensure Dublin doesn’t lose any more of its identity.”

Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam said the council acknowledged the building’s significance at the top of Grafton Street and said the reimagination of the space was to be of “exceptional design quality”.

“To me, there is nothing that really says this is a unique design, that this is something that we are going to look back on and say wow this looks amazing,” he said.

“I think it’s bland, drab and underwhelming.”

Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment.