An ambitious plan by Bono and the Edge to turn the Clarence into one of the world's top ten hotels.
The Clarence Hotel on Dublin’s Wellington Quay is co-owned by U2 members Bono and The Edge. The hotel consists of an art deco building dating from 1937, four Georgian buildings from the early 19th Century and Dollard House built in 1886.
An ambitious redevelopment plan for Clarence Hotel seeks to quadruple the size of the hotel, transforming it into an eight-storey, 140-bedroom five-star hotel.
Only the facades of these protected structures would be retained if the plan went through.
The new hotel design by British architect Norman Foster sees the installation of a skycatcher, an oval glass roof. U2’s design team say the ambition is to make the Clarence into one of the world’s top ten hotels.
An Bord Pleanála is hearing a number of submissions against the planning permission approved by Dublin City Council in 2007. Guidelines from the Department of the Environment state that listed buildings should only be knocked in exceptional circumstances.
Simply having a design of outstanding merit doesn’t qualify.
An Taisce believes the design is more suited to Dublin's Docklands. Kevin Duff of An Taisce notes the proposed Clarence Hotel redevelopment would be,
A significant architectural heritage loss for the Liffey Quays and also for the Temple Bar area.
The Edge attends the An Bord Pleanála hearing. In his view the redevelopment preserves the hotel’s future and makes it more commercially viable. He is concerned that hotel’s future may in doubt if the redevelopment plans are rejected,
We feel that this is the only way to ensure that it will remain on that site.
An RT É News report broadcast on 16 April 2008. The reporter is John Kilraine.
