Grace Park Wood is located in the heart of Drumcondra, a leafy suburb that is defined by its attractive red brick streets. In the 1800s, the Carmelite brothers established St. Josephs Centre for the Visually Impaired here, and Childvision, Irelands’ National Centre for Blind Children, now occupies the historic structures constructed by the Carmelite brothers. As part of this project, the grounds of the original St. Josephs campus have been opened up to provide a public park and a new housing development.
The scheme provides a generous public park, which contains sensory gardens and a play area, creates an appropriate setting for the protected structures of St. Josephs, and provides potential pedestrian links to garden spaces contained within other institutional campuses in Drumcondra, facilitating a future network of significant green spaces.
A strong, 3 storey red brick terrace of houses defines the edge of the public park, and the entrance to the housing development. Behind this terrace, there is a network of shared surface streets, which are reminiscent of the traditional urban fabric of Drumcondra. The primary streets are defined by red brick houses, with a buff brick used within some of the smaller spaces. Two small apartment buildings provide animation within the streetscape, and allow for the retention of a mature oak tree.