ESB to demolish Fitzwilliam Street building

The ESB has announced proposals to redevelop its new headquarters on Fitzwilliam Street, with a view to seeking planning permission in spring next year.
The company said that the building, parts of which were constructed in the 1950s, is “very inefficient and is expensive to maintain”. It said the redevelopment of the site offers the best longterm solution, both from an architectural and business perspective. Their current building was completed in 1965 by architects Stephenson Gibney & Associates, and was one of the most controversial planning decisions of that decade.

A jury of six people – three ESB chiefs and three architects – shortlisted designs for the latest redevelopment of a “world class headquarters and offices”. Eight designs originally shortlisted in the contest were each awarded 30,000 euro, while the top three entries got an additional 30,000 euro each.

The new design by award winning Irish architects Grafton Architects and O’Mahony Pike Architects re-interprets but at the same time respects the surrounding architectural heritage. After careful consideration of the Georgian Streetscape, the proposal is to deliver a building that is respectful to its history, sensitive to its surroundings and representative of its own time.

It is planned that he building will showcase innovative sustainable technologies, which will reduce carbon emissions and result in substantial energy savings. These sustainable initiatives incorporated in the proposed design will reduce the cost to run the building by 50%.

The ESB will be seeking planning permission to redevelop the Fitzwilliam Street site, with a view to submitting a planning application in March 2014. A presentation on the proposals will be made to the Dublin City Council South East Area Committee on Monday 14th October.