Royal Canal - Linear Park Competition

The predominant aspect of the new Royal Canal Park is linear. Its impact on and its far-reaching consequences for the city of Dublin, however, are complex, as is that of its design.

In the centre of an urban regeneration area the Royal Canal will become the backbone of a new public park. Its design and the opportunities it gives are so strong, complex and exciting that people will be enticed to spend their leisure time in what has been for a long time a no-go area. Royal Canal Park will encourage community life and will become one of the most prominent addresses in the former Dublin Docklands.

The site for Royal Canal Park on the banks of the Royal Canal is narrow and long.
A park, however, must always offer a variety of aspects and views for visitors to discover.
Nothing is more boring than a park that can be understood fully at first sight with no necessity or opportunity for individual exploration.

With respect to this fundamental conviction the overall design for Royal Canal Park is based on the idea of “two sides of one story”. The two sides of the park embody two different attitudes. One is predominantly soft, the other is hard: this is reflected in design shapes and materials used on each side. Even their “inner directions” are varied. The soft western side follows the line of the Royal Canal and is orientated along the canal, while the hard eastern side is orientated towards Royal Canal.

Both sides are designed to be complementary to each other in respect of use and appearance. Neither can exist without the other. Only together do they make up Royal Canal Park and allow for a large variety and simultaneity of options for visitors using the park. New pedestrian bridges across Royal Canal will connect both sides and stimulate a constant interaction between Royal Canal Park West and Royal Canal Park East.

On both sides of the canal a number of different levels are designed to be varied and stimulating. Usually the banks of a canal are flat. In Royal Canal Park, however, there will be grassed and paved slopes on the western side, stairs, steps, ramps and walls on the eastern side.

On the eastern side where the park would end, stairs will lead to a pedestrian bridge to cross Royal Canal. Sitting steps will invite people to stay here, look back and enjoy the view. Adjacent to the bridge there will be a vantage point on the western side, designed as a balcony that allows for a view over most of the southern part of Royal Canal Park.

Water is always one of the most interesting, attractive and enticing features in a park. The Royal Canal itself is not only the basis for the whole park but it is a very dominant and versatile element that allows for many different activities like boating, fishing etc. Nonetheless the canal is more or less static and quiet. As an extension of this major water element other smaller water features are foreseen that are lighter, more dynamic and that children can play with.

In the curve of the canal and lining up with the balcony there will be a 9-metre high fountain on the eastern side. A number of smaller fountains form a cluster around the big one at the edge of a water basin. Together they make up an attractive water display, which can be seen from almost every point in the park. By night it will be illuminated and thus will contribute to the nightscape of Royal Canal Park.

Opposite the cafés/restaurants on the western side of Royal Canal “dancing fountains” appear out of the pavement and evoke a cheerful atmosphere. Children will enjoy playing with the water beams, the fountains react to the movements of the children. These interactive fountains reaching a height of max. 1.80-metres, will also be illuminated by night. Overlooked from the cafés/restaurants, these fountains will provide a colourful attraction by day and by night.

On the eastern side a water wall: an exciting element to look at with the added advantage that the positive noise of falling water will drown the traffic noise, thus creating a more intimate atmosphere for the cafés.

Children and Parents will expect to find secure play areas in the park. Therefore play areas are never located immediately next to the canal, and there will always be railings or other barriers that protect children from falling into the canal. Railings and barriers are designed to be part of the park and not to be seen as something obtrusive. Instead of a large central playground there will be numerous “playstations”, not only for children, placed throughout the park

The use of different types and colours of materials underline the different characters of the two sides of the park. On the eastern side yellow granite will be the main material for walls, stairs and hard surfaces and create a light and friendly atmosphere, but at the same time a disciplined character of high value. On the western side the “hard landscape” will be constructed with red tarmac, which is the best surface to be used by skateboarders, roller-bladers, etc. In play areas a soft red surface will be used instead of the tarmac.

The overall appearance of Royal Canal Park will be blue (water), red (soft western side) and yellow (hard eastern side) and thus fit in with the palette of colour already evident in this unique dockland environment.

Royal Canal Park will contribute not only from the inside, but also from the outside, to the improvement of the Dublin Docklands Area, providing an interchange, a connection of public thoroughfares for pedestrians and cyclists between the town and the Docklands. The increased awareness and consideration of vistas from the city into the park and vice versa will exceed the meaning of Royal Canal Park far beyond its physical extension. Like the backbone in the human body the new park will become an indispensable part of Dublin Docklands Area and the city of Dublin. The park will be a major improvement in the quality of life for the existing residential areas along Royal Canal.

The edge of the park along Guild Street is designed to allow a self-evident transition between the park and the city. Curved hedges with wide openings and elevated lawns next to the street allow for views into the parks and attract people to come in. At the same time they provide shelter from the traffic for those who are in the park. At the entrance on Sheriff Street the attraction of a big wind-driven kinetic sculpture indicates a central meeting point in the park and provides an interesting view from Seville Street.

In the centre of the new housing development on the east side of Royal Canal Park a green open space needs to be provided to ensure the park will spread into the new residential estate. It will also ensure that Royal Canal Park will be used as a connection between the eastern side and the western side of the city.

Royal Canal Park will be attractive and of exceptional quality by day and by night. Good lighting is the precondition for a secure environment by night. But at night visitors must also be allowed to get a feeling for the overall design of the park and the character of the two sides. In addition to basic lighting special lighting will “highlight” selected places in the park such as stairs, fountains, bridges, walls etc. Royal Canal itself will be emphasized by a new interpretation of nautical lighting: red for starboard and green for port side. A red line follows the whole length of Royal Canal Park West, while single green lights indicate Royal Canal Park East. Together they create an unexpected and stimulating experience of the park at night.

The realization of phase 1 of the park – from the river Liffey to Sherriff Street – embodies all the main features of the whole scheme and will effect an outstanding improvement of the whole area.
After the implementation of phase 2 Royal Canal Park will enrich the city of Dublin, and it has the potential of becoming an exciting new piece of contemporary landscape architecture.