Glebe SHD Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Circle Voluntary Housing Association was set up in 2003 to provide high quality social housing and operate on a not-for-profit basis. We are currently one of the largest Housing Associations in Ireland and member of The Housing Alliance, Irelands six largest Housing Associations. We currently operate across 16 Local Authorities including Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Kildare.

Seabren design and build both private and social housing developments and have worked with a number of Approved Housing Bodies (AHB’s) in the delivery social housing schemes in the past, Seabren will build and develop the homes on the Glebe /Coruba Site.

50% of the Homes will be available as cost rental (76) whilst the other 50% of the homes will be available as Social Housing (76).

Cost rental homes will be available to families who are not eligible for social housing but might struggle with the ongoing cost of private rented accommodation. Social Housing homes built on this site will be allocated by Dublin City Council to applicants on the social Housing waiting list.

Cost rental means the rent charged on the property covers only the costs incurred in delivering, managing, and maintaining homes. A key of cost rental is to make it affordable for moderate-income households and as such rents will be 25% below local market rent.

The cost rental model is part of the national programme of government. The cost rental homes will be available to people that would not qualify for Social Housing and would be excluded from being able to access private rented accommodation or home ownership.

Circle will own 100% of the development once completed.

Circle will manage the rental, maintenance, and upkeep of the development.

Glebe House is a protected structure and will be refurbished under the guidance of our conservation architects and converted into two residential homes. The gardens in front of Glebe House will be fully landscaped and set out as public open space and will be fully accessible to the public.

The mix of homes comprises 75 one bed homes, 73 two bed homes and 4 three bed homes and is based on housing demand for such homes in the urban areas of the city. In Ireland, 53% of households contain 1-2 persons, a figure that has risen in recent decades. The reasons include smaller family size, delayed marriage and people living longer. Of the 580,000 increase in new households between the 1996 and 2016 Censuses, two thirds (390,000) were one or two person households. Couples without children form a substantial part of housing demand – at all age groups, both working and retired – much of the solution to this housing demand is to provide more in the suburbs, thus retaining access for individuals to their local community networks and amenities. The provision of one- and two-bedroom homes is also a requirement of Dublin City Councils Housing department. Currently there are 743 households on the social housing waiting list who are in need of one-bedroom homes, 391 who require two-bedroom homes and 150 households who require 3-bedroom homes. These applicants cover Crumlin, Drimnagh, Kimmage and Walkinstown.

The density of the development is 174homes/hectare. The proposed development plans to transform these underused light industrial sites into a new residential quarter and activity hub for the village of Crumlin. The development of brownfield land and a general increase in density is needed, compared to what has been considered appropriate in the past. This national guidance states that to deliver housing numbers, thriving city and town centres, and limit our impact on the environment, we must build upward rather than outward. The development of brownfield land and a general increase in density is needed, compared to what has been considered appropriate in the past. The density at 174 homes per hectare is higher than existing densities in the area but is driven by national policy to deliver a sustained increase in housing numbers and apartment type developments in urban areas. The density is in keeping with such trends to increase densities on Brownfield sites in urban areas close to amenities and public transport. There are other such sites in similar locations where densities are also being increased. The development has been designed to accord with the guidelines on Sustainable Urban Housing which promotes a mix of apartment types that better reflect contemporary household formation and housing demand patterns and trends in urban areas of the city.

• Overshadowing The daylight studies carried out for the development demonstrate that the orientation and siting of the building do not impact negatively on the homes of Summerville Drive/Green. The report concludes that the occupants of these homes should see no difference to the light levels received because of the proposed development. •Overlooking The infill nature of the site and the sensitivity of the adjoining land uses required careful consideration. The proposed apartment buildings have been designed to include appropriate setbacks from the existing residential properties as set out below. The scheme has been carefully designed to ensure no overlooking from apartments to the nearest dwellings. Somerville Green- The design of windows and balconies on the elevation closest to Somerville Green has been carefully set out to ensure no direct overlooking of the nearest properties. Block A facing on to Somerville Green has been configured to ensure the building does not negatively impact the existing two storey houses and their front and rear gardens. The nearest corner of the proposed building is 17m from the corner of the existing houses at the lower levels and over 22m at 5th floor level. The windows facing the houses on Somerville Green are also blanked to the north and only face south-west, thus avoiding any overlooking onto the houses or front gardens onto Somerville Green. The scalloped windows in the end apartment avoid directly overlooking the houses on Somerville Green and balconies which are set back have privacy screens, both to protect the amenity of residents of the apartment and to avoid any overlooking impacts on adjoining properties. The building line is also stepped back in two directions to reduce any impact with the set-back on 5th floor reducing the massing of the building and the perception of this facade from Somerville Green. It is noted that most of this facade directly faces the open space at Somerville Green and does not impact on the two storey houses. Also, the orientation of the site is such that this block does not overly impact on sunlight / daylight of the adjoining amenity space, as the sun tracks around the site. While it is accepted that this elevation facing Somerville Green is 5 storeys set back up to 6 storeys at its highest, it overlooks the green space and beyond towards the Eir Depot Shed. Given the site’s orientation and sun path, it is considered that the placement of the six-storey element is in the correct location, and, as can be seen from the report on sunlight / daylight from IES, there is no impact on Somerville Green. Somerville Drive – where Block A interacts with Somerville Drive the building steps up from 5 to 6 storeys on this boundary. The higher elements of the development are located towards the centre of the site, where it is most appropriate, and the facades are stepped back on all sides. The distance from the apartment development to the houses which includes the road and footpath together with the front gardens of the properties ensures that they are sufficiently set-back from the windows of the proposed development to the existing houses

We consider that we have designed for appropriate height on a site adjoining Crumlin village, whilst providing quality apartment accommodation at an appropriate density, within easy reach of the village centre. The scale of the development has been designed to consider the relationship towards St. Agnes Road / Crumlin Village and adjacent to Glebe House, the protected structure with the blocks stepped from 4 up to 5 storeys along Somerville Drive and then stepped up from 5 storeys to 6 storeys to the rear of the site where 6 storeys can be accommodated. The scale and massing of the proposed development, while a departure from the surrounding two storey houses, is acceptable, given the layout and separation distances proposed. We believe that we have mitigated the impact of the height of the buildings by stepping the blocks in the appropriate locations, considering the sun path, adjoining urban grain. We consider that we have designed for appropriate height on a site adjoining Crumlin village, whilst providing quality apartment accommodation at an appropriate density, within easy reach of the village centre.

We have included an outline construction management plan and propose that construction traffic will enter the site from the existing entrance on St Agnes Road. The mitigation measures set out in the plan will be further reviewed and agreed with the planning authority before any development commences. The plan will inform the construction of the proposed development and ensure active control, management and monitoring of waste and environmental impacts associated with the proposed development during the Construction Phase. This plan will be developed by the chosen Works Contractor and implemented throughout the construction phase of the project to ensure: - That all site activities are effectively managed to minimise the generation of waste and to maximise the opportunities for on-site reuse and recycling of waste materials. To ensure that all waste materials generated by site activities are removed from site by appropriately permitted waste haulage contractors and that all wastes are disposed of at approved waste licensed / permitted facilities. To manage and control any environmental impacts (noise, vibration, dust, water) that construction work activities may have on neighbouring properties and on the local receiving environment.

The development includes two types of open space – Public Open Space and Communal Open Space. There is no reliance on adjoining open space at Somerville Drive and Somerville Green and all the open space is self-contained within the site. Public Open Space - The landscape plans provide more than 920sqm of fully accessible public open space in the formal garden to the front of Glebe House and the new plaza around the coffee shop in the eastern pavilion. This public open space excludes the open space behind Glebe House. This front garden space will be fully accessible to the wider public and shall remain open at all times. Communal Open Space – This is designated open space solely for the use of residents of the development. The space is provided throughout the development and includes a podium courtyard provides over 635sqm of clearly usable communal open space (out of a total podium area of 850 sqm). This space will be sunny and with good planting to the western boundary will preserve the amenity of surrounding residential properties. The rear amenity space behind block A provides 625sqm of communal garden space. Taken together with the podium and incidental areas of open space, there is a total of upwards of 1,600sqm of communal open space to serve the development. This will all be planted to a high quality and includes a children’s play area. The communal open space provided throughout the development is well more than minimum standards for open space. Additionally, each apartment will have their own private balcony directly accessed from the living rooms of the homes.

A café is provided adjacent to Glebe House in the proposed Pavilion 2. It is located opposite a Community Facility and on the pedestrian route to the main entrance, which makes it accessible to the public and residents. The café includes an external terrace for outdoor seating on the south side. As part of this development, we are providing a dedicated community amenity facility of c. 80sqm for residential amenity / community use. The community use facility is provided at ground floor level for the residents along with landscaped courtyards, the public plaza on the new permeable pedestrian route providing a high amenity for residents. This is a suitable community facility on the key pedestrian route through the site. It should be noted that the community facility will be available for use as a parent and toddler group venue and after school homework club together with other community uses as the demand arises.   These two facilities provide a balance of support accommodation for the residential development and for the local community.   Public Open Space - The landscape plans provide more than 920sqm of fully accessible public open space in the formal garden to the front of Glebe House and the new plaza around the coffee shop in the eastern pavilion. There are two Club Cars being provided within the development. The local community will have use of the Club Cars which are located at the front of Glebe House beside the garden.  

The car park is located between buildings A and B and provides for secure car parking for residents. We have also included 2 Club Car spaces at the front of the site together with two visitor spaces. The access for the car park is from the existing Glebe House entrance. We are also providing 5 designated carparking spaces with access from Somerville Drive these spaces will be allocated to individual residents and will secured with small parking bollards. The scheme provides for 58 car parking spaces and 274 cycle spaces and 6 motorcycle spaces.

The route through the new formal green space in front of Glebe House is for pedestrian access only and will be fully available for use by the public. The, pedestrian access runs form Glebe House through to Somerville Drive and with a coffee shop pavilion adjacent to the route will provide a circulation route with good passive surveillance and activity. The design of the public realm will be of the highest quality with the new connection to Crumlin Village from Somerville Drive allowing the movement of pedestrians and cyclists from St Agnes Road through the site towards Somerville Drive. The pedestrian route will be overlooked by the apartments facing Somerville Drive giving good passive surveillance to this new pedestrian and cyclist route. In addition to this Circle will install CCTV along this access route