The original proposal, to erect a three-/five-storey over-basement building including 11 apartments, was rejected by An Bord Pleanala, which ruled that the building should be a maximum of four storeys high and comprise nine apartments. The planned development will also include a basement car park with 12 spaces, a 240sq m medical centre and a 180sq m ground floor sandwich bar.

In order to safeguard the amenities of adjoining residential occupiers, the board is restricting the hours of operation of the sandwich bar to between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Sunday inclusive.

Under the Dublin City Development Plan, the site is, in the main, zoned Z2, residential (conservation areas) . . . "to protect and/or improve the amenities of residential conservation areas". The southeastern corner of the site is zoned Z6, employment/enterprise (light) . . . "to provide for the creation and protection of enterprise and facilitate opportunities for employment creation".

Objections to the proposal included claims the development would have "an overbearing, overshadowing and overlooking" impact on adjacent dwellings and that the proposed structure would constitute "an overdensification on a restricted site which is out of keeping with the established pattern of development in the area". Objections to a proposed roof garden centred on claims it would constitute a safety hazard and would result in a loss of privacy and would seriously damage the residential amenities of the area. The planning board instructed that details of the landscaping and boundary treatment of the roof garden should be submitted for the written agreement of the planning authority.

The board ruled that, subject to specific conditions, the overall development "would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity or significantly detract from the character of the residential conservation area."