The making of a new town
Irish Independent, Property Supplement, Friday January 13th 2006

Adamstown is a new urban district on a green field site located adjacent to the main Dublin-Kildare line, 16kms west of Dublin city centre. It will be developed over the next 10 years based on a planning scheme prepared by South Dublin County Council (SDCC) and approved by An Bord Pleanala.

The key difference that distinguishes Adamstown from previous developments is a commitment to providing the necessary physical and social infrastructure and services for a community in tandem with the development of houses.

The vision of SDCC and the developers (Castlethorn Construction, Maplewood Homes and Tierra Ltd) is to create a sustainable community of integrated residential homes and work places along with retail, entertainment, leisure, transport, childcare, cultural, civic and educational facilities.

Over the next decade up to 10,000 new homes will be developed by the three construction firms. Adamstown will be delivered under the auspices of SDCC under a planning concept know as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ).

The SDZ concept is a government initiative which guarantees that comprehensive and pre-specified amenities and infrastructure must be delivered in tandem with housing.

Peak commuting hours
In terms of transport, Adamstown will be served by its own brand new, state-of-the-art train station, which when fully developed will cater for 6,000 passengers during the morning and evening peak commuting hours.

Trains will take approximately 15 minutes to get in to the city centre. Construction on the new station will commence early this year and will be completed in early 2007. Adamstown will also be served by two quality bus corridors and a new integrated road system which will link it to major orbital and arterial routes.

Education and childcare is a major focus here. A total of four schools designed by Anthony Reddy Associates (three primary and one post primary) will be delivered with the first primary school opening in September 2007.

Pre-school childcare has also been considered with the provision of 1,400 crèche places and various playground amenities. In addition, a major leisure centre incorporating a swimming pool will be provided.

Landscaped open space will be a prominent feature of Adamstown with no less than 72 acres of parkland, which will include a number of children’s playgrounds, a variety of playing pitches and tennis courts.

Tree-lined
A tree-lined central boulevard will link Airlie Park (the main parkland area at Adamstown) to the all-encompassing District Centre, based on the European town centre model. The District will offer a wide range of retail outlets, restaurants, bar and cafes.

A choice of cultural and civic amenities, such as a library, cinema and theatre will be provided. The District Centre will also incorporate a business enterprise unit, medical centre and office accommodation.

The first phase of this long awaited Adamstown development is called Adamstown Castle. Launching next month through Gunne New Homes, Adamstown Castle is being developed by Castle thorn Construction.

Wide range
Castlethorn has commissioned architects O’ Mahoney Pike to create a wide range of three and four bed extra large homes, two-and three-bed duplex homes and one- and two-bed apartments.

Castlethorn homes are designed in accordance with Sustainable Energy Ireland’s ‘House of Tomorrow’ programme, which incorporates energy efficient features. A network of fibre optic cabling will be installed at Adamstown facilitating high capacity bandwidth for all homes.

In addition homeowners will have the advantage of SMART Home technology which will facilitate the delivery of TV, broadband and telephone in every room of every home.

There is no doubt that every conceivable aspect of modern day living has been considered in terms of the development of Adamstown. It is fair to say that new towns in the past were based on the provision of housing solely without looking at the lifestyle approach.

Quality homes
In this regard Adamstown is not only providing quality homes of the future but also providing choice for people who shop, got to school and play. Most importantly, you will be able to avail of all this without the use your car.

Hailed as a model of international best practice and a significant milestone in long term urban planning in this country, Adamstown has recently been selected as the winner in the planning achievement category of the Irish Institute of Planning 2005 Awards.

Considering the quality of build and the attention to detail in train for Phase 1 Adamstown Castle, it is no surprise to learn that Castlethorn Construction has recently been awarded Irish Developer of the Year 2005.