A new application to redevelop St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre has been made to Dublin City Council.
The developers say it will rejuvenate and improve the centre, but critics say removing its distinctive curved facade and glass dome will have a negative impact on the character of the area.
Built in the late 1980s, St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre has been a prominent feature of the Grafton Street area for four decades.
Its owners, DTDL Ltd, are proposing redeveloping the shopping centre by increasing it to eight storeys, reconfiguring the retail space, adding office space and cinema screens, as well as a number of hospitality outlets, including a restaurant or bar with an outside terrace.
However, the new plans also significantly change the external facade of the shopping centre removing its distinctive curved shape and glass dome.
It has prompted a number of objections to the plans, including from architecture graduate Yusuf Alraqi, who is running the Save Stephen's Green Campaign on Instagram.
He said he believes the current centre is an iconic piece of the capital's landscape and needs to be preserved.
"The developers have said that this is a rejuvenation project, but it's not really that, they're looking to tear down all of the steel structure of Stephen's Green Shopping Centre. It'll be totally unrecognisable. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre is a really unique building, there hasn't been one built like it in Dublin, and there won't be one built again like it again," he said.
He added: "The lattice work facade, which is so distinctive, the dome, the large like steel atrium structure that you see when you walk in, and the clock as well, these are just the most iconic things about the building.
"It's just really a pity that Dublin will be losing something like that when it could be so easily stopped. The centre needs to be upgraded but it doesn't need to be demolished. It's got so much character."
He described the proposed new development which consists of red brick and angular designs on the front as "jarring" and "sharp".
"It's actually the polar opposite of a curved building on a corner. It's totally different materials. The new facade, it's going to be all brick and granite, sort of a mishmash, all sharp edges and not exactly the most welcoming versus this lovely, curved facade," he said.
In its application, the developer said it is seeking to bring rejuvenation and improvements to the retail offering at this landmark site.
It has also said the visual impact on St Stephen's Green will be negligible as it is replacing one relatively modern development with another.
A previous plan for redevelopment of the shopping centre was rejected by An Coimisiún Pleanála last summer.
The new application acknowledged that there is some affection for the shopping centre, but suggests that if the old building was proposed now, it would not be held with the same regard.
The Archaeological Impact Assessment says: "The shopping centre is not a Protected Structure and is not listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
"Its idiosyncratic architectural style has nonetheless rendered it a notable building within an ever-changing urban landscape. With its glazed dome it maintains a distinctive presence on the local skyline, and the removal of the façade was commented upon in many of the observations received by the planning authority in relation to a previous application."
It continued: "As is evident from some of the submissions made on the application, there is some affection for the shopping centre which has been described as a Mississippi riverboat, minus its paddle wheel, marooned on the edge of Dublin's most important Victorian public park.
"The construction of the existing shopping centre involved the demolition of a number of 18th and 19th century buildings and a mineral water bottling plant, which had been acquired piecemeal since 1966 by the Slazenger family and had been allowed decay pending redevelopment.
"Their replacement cannot be said to have been a sensitive response to the existing historic built environment; this was not however considered an issue at the time."
It added: "The Stephen's Green Shopping Centre is rarely celebrated in the literature and perhaps Christine Casey’s description of the structure as a 'disappointing conclusion' to the western side of the Green is not an unfair assessment.
"It is nonetheless interesting that the structure is held in some affection, especially by those too young to remember the previous elevations and indeed the Dandelion Market which took place at weekends in the back plots and stables from 1973 until its closure in 1981."
An architectural heritage impact assessment also states the proposed development will not have an adverse effect on St Stephen's Green or the national monuments around it.
"The proposed building, like the existing structure, is inevitably prominent due to its corner position; however, it does not adversely affect the setting of the park or nearby historic structures. Views toward the site from most areas within the park will remain largely screened by the surrounding trees, and any limited glimpses will be read against the broader urban backdrop, resulting in no meaningful impact on historic structures.
"While the proposal will inevitably alter the character of the area, it is considered that its effect will be no greater and no more negative than that of the existing building."
Watch: 'I'd rather the old one', say locals on plans to develop St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre
On a rainy Grafton Street, those who stopped to speak to RTÉ News all said they did not want to see the centre changed.
Declan Murphy from Dublin said he has fond memories of visiting the centre as a child.
"I'd rather the old one, to be honest. I think I much prefer the old building. It's probably a nostalgia thing for me. I remember the '80s going with my parents and just the big clock in the middle. I love that. I think it's aged pretty well. It still looks fairly modern. I'm not an expert in architecture, that's just my take on it."
Walter Birmingham from Dublin said he believes the centre has become "iconic" for Dublin.
"Tourists photograph it all the time, I like it. Somebody described it as a stranded Mississippi river boat. I think that's nice, you know. I just like it. The new plans, I think don't really work. It's too messy. It doesn't flow around the corner," he said.
Frederica, who is originally from Naples in Italy but now living in Dublin, said she wants to see the original design preserved.
"I don't really like the new way. [The current building] it's more authentic, you know, there is history here. There is architecture. This [new one] its only modern."
The planning application is open for public submissions until Thursday 29 January.
