Hacking the Suburbs: An Alternative Local Area Plan for Dundrum

As part of UCD School of Architecture’s 4th Year Masters programme, I ran a unit in the design studio based in the south Dublin suburb of Dundrum. Students produced housing designs on the site of the former Dundrum Shopping Centre, and considered the recent large infrastructural changes that had occured in this former village – a road bypass, proximity to the M50 motorway, nearby high-rise development, the Luas tram and the Dundrum Town Centre.

We collaborated with local community group Imagine Dundrum, as well as with Hammerson Ireland, the owners of the Dundrum Town Centre and developers of the old shopping centre site. The work of the students was exhibited and discussed with these local stakeholders, as well as with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council planners. The students also presented their work at a public meeting in Dundrum attended by many local residents.