Masterplan unveiled for Seamus Quirke Road regeneration site

The proposed new Galway City West Primary Care Centre and Tusla buildings are just part of the overall masterplan for what is known as the ‘Seamus Quirke Road Regeneration Site’.

The site, which spans 9.5 acres and currently houses the T Ó hUigínn builders providers and yard, will also include apartments, student accommodation, cafés, retail space and an office block.

The healthcare elements account for around three acres of the site, with a masterplan for the remainder proposing (although not yet part of a planning application):

■ A block of 28 apartments ranging from two to four storeys in height;

■ A block of 42 student apartments ranging from two to four storeys over ground floor commercial space;

■ Cafe/restaurant units with overhead accommodation;

■ Retail units with overhead accommodation;

■ Five storeys of specialist office space over ground floor commercial space;

■ All built around a central public space.

The masterplan also mentions “measures to support the wider area designation as a pilot decarbonsation zone”.

Referring to the entire plan for the lands – including the Primary Care Centre – the masterplan states that the “building massing was developed on the site with reference to the Galway Urban Density and Building heights Study which gives guidance noting significant scope for taller heights along Seamus Quirke Road”.

“The massing moves from two-storey residential units along Rahoon Road and rises progressively across the site towards taller units along Seamus Quirke Road comprising a five-storey block and a feature none-storey block on the north-east corner of the site.

“It is proposed that the site uses this height at this prominent north-east corner to provide a distinct character and identity to the development along this main transport artery of the city.

“The proposed massing delivers sufficient height to provide enclosure to the central plaza space, but also considered the orientation of the site and path of the sun, so that the plaza space is afforded good quality daylight with minimal overshadowing,” the masterplan reads.

The blocks along Rahoon Road are proposed for residential use. The retail and café/restaurant units are at ground floor level and are arranged to provide frontage onto the Seamus Quirke Road. The specialist office block is located to the west of the development with an entrance at ground floor to the north of the block.

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The Galway City Development Plan has zoned the site C1 ‘Enterprise, Light Industry and Commercial’ and notes it has capacity for a mix of uses including primary healthcare, commercial and office use as well as residential use in view of its advantaged location and proximity to key facilities, location along a public transport corridor and its adjacency to park facilities.

The Development Plan objective is to “improve connectivity, increase attractiveness, encourage more sustainable street level community interaction and activity and generally to improve the urban environment”.

The masterplan is included with the current planning application for information purposes only and does not form part of the application.

A separate planning application for apartments on the other Ó hUigínn lands – opposite the Maunsell’s Road junction – is still under consideration by the Council.