Top architect defends building proposal after parents object

A TOP architect yesterday defended a proposed new studio/office building that’s been designed for Limerick’s Georgian Pery Square.

Parents of children attending a nearby school are opposing the plan.

However, Michael Healy said he believed the design was well received by those living and working in the Pery Square area.

Mr Healy, who has designed JP McManus’s €100 million mansion in Co Limerick, said: “The proposed building will make a positive contribution to the diverse character of this part of Limerick.

“It will be constructed in a contemporary idiom and that will make a positive contribution to the area.”

Mr Healy has entered into a partnership agreement with the Church of Ireland, owner of the site.

The building will cover 10,000 sq ft, and will be occupied by his company while the church authorities will have the remainder to rent.

The church says it needs funds for projects such as the restoration of nearby St Michael’s Church.

Mr Healy said: “Pery Square has been to an extent asleep and what we propose is no threat to the Georgian aspect of Pery Square. Indeed it will help complement it.

“Obviously it is in our interest to design a building that is to the highest standard. After all, this will be my work home; it is in my interest to design it to the highest standards.

“I don’t want anything that is wrong or that causes upset.”

Plans for the €2m structure have been lodged with Limerick City Council, but parents at nearby St Michael’s Church of Ireland primary school have decided to lodge objections.

Dr Garrett Cox, spokes-man for the parents, said concerns focus on the planned new structure intruding on the school’s privacy and affecting natural light from the nearby People’s Park.

Mr Healy said: “As professional designers it is our duty to address privacy issues and to that extent we believe we have addressed that concern by the introduction of a minimum of slender, high-level windows.”

With regard to concerns by parents of safety during construction, Mr Healy said mitigation measures could be put in place to eliminate risk.

He said: “We have designed the structure in such a manner that the construction will be carried out in the shortest possible time, thus minimising the nuisance to neighbours during the construction period.”

He said the distinguished design would give an added dimension to other new developments proposed for the Pery Square area, which include an extension to the nearby City Art Gallery and the construction of a boutique hotel in Barrington Street.