Property developer Silver Bloom has made a fresh bid to secure planning permission for a controversial high-rise apartment block on a landmark site in the upmarket Dublin suburb of Donnybrook.

Development firm Silver Bloom has submitted revised plans to demolish Jefferson House - a five-storey office block on the banks of the River Dodder - to allow for the development of an 11-storey building with 20 large apartments.

In 2020, An Bord Pleanála rejected the company's plans for a building of a similar height containing 62 apartments on the same site near the junction of Eglinton Road and Donnybrook Road on the grounds that it would constitute overdevelopment.

The board said the proposal would have "an unacceptable negative visual impact on this prominent site within a designated conservation area".

It also concluded that the development, which was strongly opposed by local residents and councillors, would seriously injure the residential amenities of neighbouring homes because of its overbearing impact and would likely lead to a depreciation in their value.

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In addition, An Bord Pleanála criticised the high proportion of apartments in the scheme that were single-aspect and northwest-facing.

Dublin City Council had earlier refused planning permission on similar grounds.

Silver Bloom said the redesigned apartment scheme would contain 20 three-bed units with individual winter gardens, as well as a communal roof, meeting room, concierge and gym. It also said there would be terraces on the fifth and seventh storeys.

Consultants for the company, which is owned by Hong Kong based businessman Fergus Lynch, said the proposed development would provide a sustainable building next to a high-quality public transport corridor and would "create a new vitality at a strategically located mode".

They said the developer had sought to address the reasons for the previous refusal of planning permission on the site.

Silver Bloom said the new plans would align with a 12-storey apartment block containing 148 units being constructed on the opposite side of Eglinton Road. It said it had staggered the height in its new plans, ranging from five to 11 storeys to take account of neighbouring properties.

By providing a range of three bed units, the company said it was responding to the need for such housing types in the area.

The building that stands on the site, Jefferson House, was built in 1981 and has been described by local councillors as one of the ugliest buildings in south Dublin.

Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said Jefferson House was "exceptionally ugly", but warned previously against allowing a development that would create "an even bigger eyesore".

Mr Lacey said the building also had "an interesting history" as its original planning application had led to the establishment of An Bord Pleanála.

A ruling on the latest application from development firm Silver Bloom is expected from Dublin City Council in May.