2004:0511 - DUBLIN: Morgan Hotel, 1–2 Aston Place, Dublin

It is proposed to partially demolish a three-storey building at 1–2 Aston Place, with facade retention along Aston Place and Bedford Lane, in order to construct either a five-storey 57-bedroom hotel including 17 self-catering hotel units or a 38-bedroom hotel extension with 17 apartments.

Four trial pits were mechanically excavated by a one-tonne mechanical excavator equipped with a toothed bucket and grading bucket and a rock-breaker. The testing was carried out within the existing buildings at 1–2 Aston Place (former USIT building). The existing internal space was challenging for testing purposes, due to existing wall and column structures. A series of trial pits selectively positioned within the area determined that the underlying stratigraphy consisted of 18th/19th-century building rubble overlying reclamation deposits comprising brown sandy clay, rubble, animal bone and occasional 18th-century ceramics and glass. A single red-brick wall was the only structural feature recorded in the trial pits, although a cobbled surface and mortared surface were located immediately below existing ground level. The maximum depth attainable for any of the trial pits was 3m BGL.

The proposed development will involve the excavation of ground beam trenches to an average depth of c. 1m below existing ground level, beneath which pile foundations will be set out in a grid pattern approximately every 5m. The current assessment determined that a minimum of 0.8m of building rubble was located immediately below the concrete flooring. Below this level, 19th-century floor surfaces associated with previous buildings were discovered. These buildings are indicated on the 1847 OS map. The development is in a part of Dublin that was only reclaimed from the River Liffey in the 17th century.

Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth