Sundays Well Altus Apartments

2004-2007 | Cork City

This is a striking development of 29 contemporary apartments on Sundays Well Road, Cork,

nestled into the urban landscape on the North Channel of the River Lee, looking over the City Centre. The guiding concept for this south facing development is to maximise light in the apartments and to capture the wonderful views of the River Lee and Cork City. The use of large amounts of glass; private open spaces in the form of large balconies and terraces; grass roofs; all combine to give true expression to this concept.

The mix of apartment types, including duplex and triplex units, provides an added interest and vitaility. The Courtyard, at Podium level, is beautifully landscaped to create a calm, open air amenity for all the apartments.

Altus is a unique development, located in the heart of Cork City. The interiors of the apartments are designed in a minimalist style, with the use of hidden storage a delightfully creative feature. Attention to detail is evident throughout and all fixtures, fittings and finishes have been sourced and chosen with the greatest of care - contemporary Belgian light fittings; Flaminia sanitary ware; Gessi sanitary fittings; Italian tiling; energy saving Tripleglazed windows/sliding doors. The apartments have achieved the A-Energy rating and have been constructed accordingly to the highest standard. The Heating System is a very economical Heat Recovery System which is among the most efficient, sustainable and cost effective heating and hot water systems available and the yearly running costs of this system are considerably less than conventional gas or oil systems. This residential scheme is the redevelopment of a prominent south facing elevated 'Brownfield' site overlooking and in close proximately to Cork City. It is bounded by a series of Historic Lanes filtering to and from the city centre.

The concept’s goal to utilise the unique topography of the site while retaining the main body of the existing buildings which are the site’s public face. The form is a series of stepped vertical planes from the street. The first plane is the stone wall and existing buildings. The intermediate plane is the row of moderate scaled building with broad soft landscaped layer across the centre of the site. This layer is setting the scale for final plane of taller buildings set into the hill.

The language is contemporary to allow full advantage of sunlight and views, and to permit the various layers across the site. It also is a statement of renewal in an area which remained stagnant for a long period of time. The retention of the existing allows the character of the area to be retained, renewed, and helps bind the new and old.

Shea Hartigan collaborated on the design and planning development on this project. Great efforts were made to tie this development with the existing buildings on site and the adjacent historic lanes whilst also providing as many green private open spaces as possible.