U2’s The Edge has secured planning permission for a new family home for Sorrento Cottage in Dalkey in south Dublin.
In granting planning permission, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council concluded that The Edge's scheme would not detract from the amenities of the area and is consistent with the provisions of the current Council Development Plan.
The council granted planning after its Conservation Division stated that it welcomed the proposal to restore the original dwelling to become a primary residence.
The Division concluded that the development should be sufficiently screened by mature landscaping so as not to have a detrimental impact on the Architectural Conservation Area (ACA).
The green light for David Evans to renovate and build a three-level extension to his Sorrento Cottage property comes more than two decades after his last failed attempt to develop on the Vico Rd and Sorrento Rd site which overlooks Killiney Bay.
Only one submission was made to the Council by a third party and local, Michael Shiell who told the Council of his concerns over the scheme’s planned fencing by stating that “this area is a special amenities area and must be protected and not turned, externally into a prison camp”.
In response, the Council has included a condition that the boundary walls will be maintained at their existing height.
The new “innovative’ scheme by ODAA Architects includes a recording studio and a separate bath-house containing a plunge pool and sauna.
Sorrento Cottage has been vacant since the mid-1990s and ODAA Architects told the council that their brief "was to bring the existing structure back into use as our client's primary dwelling”.
ODAA Architects told the council that they have adopted a sensitive approach to the refurbishment of the existing residential structure and the design of the new additions, commenting that "the proposed development will have a positive impact on the visual character of the area".
The plan for the 2.75 acre site - which his located adjacent to Sorrento Terrace - is to also include a security hut and planning documents lodged with the application state that a key aspect of the proposal “will be to meet the unique safety needs of the Evans family associated with the high profile profession of Mr Evans. It is mandatory that 24-hour security is provided on site”.
The report stated that the site's “largely secluded location” as it is bounded by Killiney Bay “meets the needs of the Evans family over similarly sized properties in the area”.
The Thornton O’Connor Town report stated that the internal reconfiguration work of Sorrento Cottage “will provide high quality residential amenity spaces for the Evans family including an open-plan kitchen diner with a connected living area”.
In a separate comprehensive 45-page planning report by Thornton O’Connor Town Planning, Director at the consultancy, Sadhbh O’Connor told Dun Laoighaire Rathdown County Council that the proposed extension and renovation "will ultimately provide a high-quality and carefully designed family home that appropriately responds to the sensitive environment in which it is sited”.
Ms O’Connor has stated that the scheme’s retained design team for the newly proposed development addresses the reasons for refusal by An Bord Pleanala to the previous scheme.
Ms O’Connor stated that the main extension and refurbished and renovated house incorporates a range of rooms, including six ensuite bedrooms, living and lounge rooms, kitchen and dining rooms, study and studio spaces. The scheme also includes an archive room.
The proposed development also includes the demolition of a number of structures on site, including single-storey extensions, a greenhouse, a detached garage and external stores.
Ms O’Connor has told the council that "the provision of a high-quality extension over three levels, integrated in to the landscape, to make use of a currently vacant and under-utilised dwelling in an accessible location” according with national planning policy.
Ms O’Connor stated that the scheme will bring a currently vacant dwelling back into habitable use and occupation.
The planning consultants stated that both the security hut and bath house "will markedly enhance the safety, security and residential amenity of the proposed house and represent modest additions to the site”.
Ms O’Connor states that "the contemporary design of the proposed development has sought to progressively seek the renovation and extension of the existing Sorrento Cottage dwelling".
Ms O’Connor stated that the main extension's location and positioning within the topography of the site "has ensured that it does not result in overlooking, overbearance or overshadowing of neighbouring dwellings”.
The Edge assembled a team of experts from nine separate planning and engineering firms to advance the plan and the new scheme has evolved over the last two years as Ms O’Connnor lodged her first pre-planning report on the plan with the Council in August 2021.
The planning permission comes 22 years after An Bord Pleanála decision in October 2001 refusing Mr Evans planning permission for a new two-storey dwelling on the lands. The case came before An Bord Pleanála following an appeal by An Taisce and An Taisce didn’t make a submission on the new application.
The appeals board decision - which dismissed a recommendation by its own inspector to grant planning permission - overturned a grant of permission by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for the application that was originally lodged in December 2000.
Mr Evans took a High Court judicial review of the appeals board refusal and in November 2003, the High Court upheld the An Bord Pleanala decision.
