IPUT Real Estate has appointed architects Hassell and consultancies PRD and Gehl to lead a five-year study into the long-term impact of 'placemaking' investments on city neighbourhoods.
Making Impact will be one of the world's first studies on the impact of placemaking, ie the planning, design and management of public spaces, on a longitudinal basis.
The three firms will collaborate to assess the social, economic, environmental and cultural impact of their Wilton Park development in Dublin 2.
The 600,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme, which incorporates 580,000 sq ft of offices and 20,000 sq ft of food and beverage space surrounding a one-acre city park and streetscape, is due for completion this year.
IPUT in 2020 issued a detailed research report, Making Place, considering the impact of placemaking on the workplace and wider neighbourhood, and subsequently updated it last year.
In Association with
“Wilton Park is an opportunity to create an inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable neighbourhood that will engage with the wider community," said Niall Gaffney, CEO of IPUT.
"As custodians and stewards of this historic part of Dublin city, we are passionate about understanding the impact of our investment in placemaking on Wilton Park and our neighbours.
"This research will value our impact with potential application for other cities and places over the long-term. We have assembled a group of market leading design and placemaking experts in Hassell, PRD and Gehl.
"They bring together the breadth and depth of experience required to create a leading evaluation framework for placemaking and help define the future development of our cities."
Marie Hunt, head of research at IPUT Real Estate, said: “We want the quality of the regeneration at Wilton Park to be an exemplar for successful public and private sector collaboration on a global scale.
"We are aiming to create a meaningful place for the community and to attract additional footfall to this part of Dublin city by showcasing the best characteristics of successful placemaking.
"We have appointed a world-renowned team to lead a ground-breaking piece of research that will have global application. At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, social value was identified as being key to unlocking successful urban transformation and collaboration between the public and private sector.
"Making Impact will be one of the world’s first studies to measure social impact in the built environment over a five-year period."
Camilla Siggaard Andersen, research lead at Hassell, said: “Bringing together a multi-disciplinary team with a shared passion for making places that people love, we are excited to work with IPUT to capture and share insights about the holistic impact of a wide range of placemaking initiatives at Wilton Park over the next five years.
"While there is a growing body of evidence that speaks to the value of placemaking, few studies have been undertaken at this scale or with such strong roots in a living case study, which may itself be impacted by our findings over time.
"With that in mind, we feel that this project has the potential to set a new benchmark for placemaking quality, excellence, and accountability in the commercial real estate sector at a global scale, and the opportunity to become a source of knowledge and
inspiration for developers and city architects world-wide."
IPUT manages a portfolio of commercial property covering 5.3m sq ft with a net asset value of over €2.6bn.
Photo: Wilton Park (Pic: IPUT Real Estate)
