‘Blocky’ CGI buildings are not the finished product

What the various office, retail and residential buildings in the Abbey Creative Quarter will look like is not yet decided, and the examples shown in Monday’s presentation are just an example.

A number of councillors expressed concerns that the buildings depicted looked ‘blocky’ or generic, while Cllr Sean O’ hArgain said nobody wanted buildings that were a medieval pastiche either.

County manager Joe Crockett said that the drawings were a rough format, and not necessarily representative of what they will look like. Architects have not drawn plans for specific buildings yet.

The buildings are to look out onto the public park, and be set some 80 metres back from the river, with the riverside constructions no higher than four storeys. Architect Mark Kennedy said that most of Kilkenny’s existing significant public buildings are not in big spaces or open plazas, and that should be kept in mind.