Hacketstown, Phase 2
Ballygossan Park in Hacketstown is a high quality addition to the highly attractive and self-contained sea-side town of Skerries to the north of Dublin. JFOC Architects have been involved in this site since 2005, and have completed the first phase of the development.
Located to the south of Skerries, and within walking distance of Skerries Railway station, the development of the site offered the opportunity for a diverse, sustainable and characterful residential community.
This planning application proposes 149 dwellings and a creche for this second phase of development, they are a mixture of houses and apartments. This is a medium density development within a landscaped suburban setting adjacent and overlooking a large public park.
The slope of the site has been a major factor and influence in the design of the proposed development. The central apartment building has been designed to engage with the slope of the site. The stepping of the building down the slope has been used as a means to express the rhythm and grain of the building while concealing the carparking without resorting to costly underground carparking. The scale of the block is similar to the scale and grain of Skerries. The central court is a private garden for the residents, all units are entered through this garden and it contains a bike shed and gym. Many of the units have balconies overlooking it. In this way it will be actively used and enjoyed by the residents.
The main access to the site is from the Golf Links road. The first phase of development at Ballygossan Park frames the northern side of the entrance road, with a mix of three and two storey houses. The proposed development provides for two blocks of three storey duplex apartments facing onto the Golf Links road and the main access road.
The creche is located at a key fulcrum of the development, at the junction between the main part of phase 2, the existing Ballygossan park development, and beside the connection to the proposed new residential area to the south. It is designed to engage the street, the public spaces, and the imagination of the child, while discretely ensuring safety.
