Projects Archive - Altu Architects Brochure

The vision of the Clonburris SDZ is to provide a new sustainable mixed-use town of 9,000+ households on a high-capacity rail line to the west of Dublin. ALTU Architects have been working as part of a multi-disciplinary Design Team, for Cairn Homes to realise the first Urban Centre (Cooper’s Square) to service the community.

ALTU Architects have provided master-planning and architectural services to the project, obtaining a Planning Grant in Q3 2023.

ALTU are delivery Architects from RIAI stages 4 – 8, delivering the first citizenM Hotel in Ireland.

CitizenM is an expanding worldwide hotel brand with 31 hotel in 9 countries. Established in 2008, citizenM provides affordable luxury, allowing travellers to stay in central locations in the world’s most exciting cities at an affordable price.

The 9-storey, 245 bed hotel will host two galleries, meeting rooms and a large terrace courtyard.

The development objective is to create a vibrant mixed-use Urban Centre to serve the emerging New Town of Seven Mills. Located beside Kishoge Train Station, Seven Mills Exchange Square is an inclusive neighbourhood designed to a sustainable density that will anchor the shopping, employment and civic needs the growing community.

ALTU Architects were appointed by Cairn Homes to provide Masterplanning and Architectural Services, leading to a Planning Grant in April 2024.

Incorporating high quality public realm, extensive cycle and walking routes, the development provides an improved integration with the existing Train station and the community.

The dwellings are being designed to a PassivHaus Standard to create quality homes that leave a minimal impact on the environment and lower energy costs to the occupier.

We are thrilled to be partnering with Dunnes Stores for their upcoming store project on Crumlin Road. The vision for the project is to replace the existing dated and largely vacant Crumlin Shopping Centre with a new mixed-use shopping centre development. The new Dunnes anchor will be located on the ground floor, alongside service retail units and independent food and beverage offers. The overall footprint of the proposed building is 16,892 sqm, with an overall height of 12.9m. The design features a uniquely shaped roof, resembling a wave, which will serve as a distinct visual landmark for the new building. The planned shopping centre will not only invigorate the area, but also benefit the community with the addition of cafés, florist, medical centre, gym, and food market. A mobility hub is also planned to promote multi-modal transport, and the incorporation of improved landscaping will transform the site’s appearance. The transportation and traffic design was developed to allow for seamless integration with the future Bus Connect network. To support the expansion of Dublin’s EV charging network, the car park has been future-proofed for future charging points, including 80 EV spaces in the first instance.

Located behind the Clonsilla Inn in Dublin 15, this residential development delivers 170 high-quality apartments and duplexes across seven blocks, with generous public and communal open spaces. The scheme includes a café, childcare facility, landscaped courtyards, a public park, play areas, and a nature walk. With a focus on sustainable transport, it provides extensive bike parking and improved pedestrian and cycle access. The development aims to create a vibrant, well-connected community with thoughtful urban design and placemaking.

Blanchardstown Centre is one of Ireland’s largest and long standing Shopping Centres, originally constructed in 1996. Twenty five years later, the mall needed a refresh to create a modern experience and inject a new lease of life to the Centre.

ALTU were engaged to carry out the rejuvenation of the Centre consisting of an extensive upgrade of the internal malls and the overall masterplanning of the centre involving the introduction of a number of extensions, internal reconfigurations, facade upgrades and the creation of a number of new entrances.

The project is highly complex with 10,000 sq. m. of live mall, multiple active tenancies across the 120,000 sq. m. Centre with at least 4 contractors on site at any given time.

The brief for the development was to create a contemporary, high quality Strategic Housing Development (SHD) suitable for a prime residential site (0.8525 ha) located at Roselawn and Aberdour on the Stillorgan Road.

The proposed development comprises a single phase, two block site arrangement of seven-storey apartment buildings. 142 No. apartments are provided within the scheme, made up of the following:-

73 No. One Bed Apartments;
68 No. Two Bed Apartments;
1 No. Three Bed Apartment.

As part of the developed design response, the project maintains a focus on an active community environment with nearly 4,000sqft of amenity spaces included within the scheme.

These amenity facilities include a social integration zone within a garden pavilion at podium level, a gymnasium, multi-functional space and work lounge. 91 No. car parking spaces are provided across basement and surface levels within the scheme.

As part of our long-time and ongoing association with Dundrum Town Centre, ALTU were engaged to undertake a full rejuvenation of 1-5 Ashgrove Terrace within the estate, which included an existing open area and events space to the rear and a partially excavated basement.

Prior to works commencing, the Ashgrove Terrace properties were vacant, challenged by dated building fabric and compromised floor plates. The events space was utilised, albeit semi-successfully as a public realm and events area for the Centre, but was challenged by the lack of active frontage, poor landscaping and lighting conditions.

The principle objective in the scheme developed by ALTU was to enhance the overall Pembroke Square District and surrounding public realm by establishing a permanent events space, activated by quality food and beverage offerings – through a blend of retaining the existing structures, sensitively married with a new extension.

The new build extension element mimics the Terrace’s pitched roof form and orientation in its modern idiom, knitting itself into the urban grain of the wider Dundrum area. Large glass openings allow the existing structures to be perceived from the Square. The existing random rubble rear wall of Ashgrove has been retained insofar as practicable and runs from outside to in, becoming a feature interior wall. The single storey extension fills what would be a vacant and unused part of the site. Crucially this provides a boundary, a defined edge to the square as well as acting as active frontage, injecting life into the surrounding area.

The additional uses provided through Pembroke Square will tie in with and complement the wider existing uses of retail, leisure and food and beverage within Dundrum Town Centre.