Cork City Docklands Masterplan

Strategic Principles

The Cork Docklands Framework Masterplan sets out key principles to support comprehensive growth and development of Docklands. It takes into account all the infrastructure requirements to create a resilient neighbourhood through a series of proposed key strategies and design principles

The evolution of the design approach to public realm and landscape has been directly informed by the land use zoning set out in the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028, the outline public spaces identified in Cork City Council’s  initial Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) application and identification of additional strategic public space opportunities developed in collaboration council’s internal stakeholders

The Public Realm and Landscape proposals have been centred around the following themes: Placemaking, Heritage, Connections, Levels and Flood Defences, Biodiversity, Amenity, Climate Resilience, Quality of Life and Wellbeing, and Art and Programming.

Active and Vibrant Waterfront

The South Quays offer a great opportunity to provide major regeneration through investment in place making and the creation of a destination at the Docklands. It presents 1.2km of active and vibrant public realm from Albert Quays to Marina Promenade. The quay edge will be rejuvenated and replaced where necessary. The enhanced quayside provides flood resilience with new polder flood protection levels maintained from Albert Quays to the Marina Park

The quay combines aspects of heritage, ecology, biodiversity, urban play and health and well-being along its length. A series of plazas, urban parks and ecological features populate the quays and provide access onto the quays from adjacent new streets and developments. The water is to be embraced and improved access into, onto and within the river are considered in our proposals.  A number of water edge interventions are proposed such as outdoor swimming opportunities, linear boardwalks, enhanced waterside planting and connections to the Blue Green route with a plaza and cut into the river embankment

Waterfront Promenade

The North Quays offer a great opportunity to provide a setting for new residential development and a waterfront promenade overlooking the River Lee and the South Docks. The new waterfront promenade will bring together the new streets, buildings, parks and active travel routes along the length of the quayside. Providing enhanced access to the water and a transition from new building finished floor levels to the existing quayside level. The proposals put forward a unifying design defining the character of North Quays, providing a consistent interface for the new developments.

The North Quays provide a high quality promenade to act as local destination for existing and new population of the North Docks, stitching together two key public spaces at Horgan’s Quay Park and Shipyard Plaza. Knitting the existing streetscape on Lower Glanmire Road via new connections is an opportunity to act as a catalyst in building a community in the regenerated docklands.  The ground floor of the residential units will be active with café, retail and offices, enjoying the southerly aspect and views across the south quays.  Areas for outdoor seating relating to these commercial opportunities will activate the space and create a destination

Community Park

The landscape provides an interconnected landscape between existing Kennedy Park, and the new quayside public realm. The Kennedy Pond provides a significant contribution to the Docklands drainage strategy with integrated sustainable drainage storage features responding to the site wide drainage strategy.

The three local parks provide surface water storage, places for informal recreation and gathering and active travel routes - crossing over Centre Park Road and Monahan Road. The spaces are consistent in their approach north to south, with new developments framing the new public spaces. The Kennedy Spine and Pond embrace Cork’s vibrancy while providing a peaceful natural space in which to relax. The sequence of public green spaces provide an informal break in the masterplan with the opportunity to change density and scale of development to the east of the spine, while to the west the density will reflect it’s proximity to the city centre

Open Canal Park

The park is built around an existing canal system which will play a crucial role in the strategic water management of the South Docks. The Park incorporates the canal to the north with paths and intertwined cycle/shared routes. The canal width varies with an accessible edge to the south onto open parkland with a more formal steep section to the north. The design intent is to create a formal landscape edge to the north which addresses the new developments and reinforces the linearity and encourages a consistent frontage. To the south, the canal can open out with shallow slopes and wider bodies of water, marginal planting sweeps down to the water edge.

The increased capacity of the existing canal is an essential component of the drainage strategy for the South Docks. Through the prioritisation of nature-based solutions, the modified canal will play multiple functions by also playing a key placemaking role in characterising the park and adjacent development

North to South link

Designed as a strategic north-south connection across the South Docks, the route connects the River Lee to the south escarpment.

It combines the principles of “blue” infrastructure, which focuses on water management and conservation, and “green” infrastructure, which emphasises natural and ecological features. It also provides additional surface water drainage provision for new developments and an enhanced biodiverse landscape feature in the heart of the Docklands development.  The route provides green link between the escarpment to the south and the River Lee to the north.  The route terminates in a square on the South Quays and has a physical connection to the river with a designed cut and terrace into the river embankment.  The planting from the route extends into this riverside intervention and provides a link of habitats from north to south across the Docklands area.

The route follows a sinuous geometry to not only create wider pockets of green spaces for additional drainage storage, but also to slow cycle speed and prioritise the pedestrian experience. New development will look out onto the route, creating a green buffer and view at the ground floor

Wild Landscape Park

Designed as a wild landscaped park under the overhead ESB electricity power lines. the park accommodates day to day activity by providing a ‘common’ for the surrounding area, as well as a blank canvas for events and programming.

A diagonal cut was once formed in this location across the polder landscape, this park represents it’s alignment. It was a drainage channel formed to support the flood defences at the time. While it has long been built over and lost the Park’s geometry of diagonal paths and water management principles are informed by the location of this historic element. The naming of the park, Polder Cut, comes from the existence of the original cut channel in the polder from the 1800s.

Integrated Sport and Play

The Framework Masterplan includes several locations for active recreation infrastructure, including formal facilities such as playing pitches and sport centres and informal facilities, nested within public realm and landscape spaces. Informal play interventions are also incorporated into the landscape, encouraging exploration and activity for a range of ages.

Key Strategic ARI spaces include:

The Canal Walk Sports Centre sits in a large and centrally located site in the South Docks, connected to the Blue Green Route and Canal Walk Linear Park. It includes sport and leisure facilities that can provide a civic and community anchor within Docklands area.

Monahan Park provides a flexible outdoor MUGA with a strategic link to the adjacent school development area.

The Ardfoyle Convent Lands are located within Marina Park, and provide an opportunity to introduce casual/informal active recreational infrastructure and amenity catering to a younger audience and supporting the use of this open space as a family-friendly public open space.

Bringing Nature to the Heart of the Docklands

The current landscape of the Docklands is largely industrial hard landscape with limited biodiversity value. The Framework Masterplan’s public realm and landscape vision aims to create a connected, regenerative environment that transforms this stark setting into a vibrant, green landscape. This transformation would enhance local biodiversity, establish entirely new habitats, and link seamlessly with Cork’s broader ecological network.

The ecological and biodiversity strategy for the Docklands focuses on three key actions: safeguarding existing natural assets and integrating them with new development; creating a regenerative landscape that actively boosts biodiversity; and ensuring that new development contributes positively to the ecological system, rather than simply offsetting its impact.