An Australian architect has claimed that Dublin city council’s design for the pedestrianisation of College Green has “significant” similarities to plans he submitted for the space eight years ago.
Justin Marden, a Melbourne architect who worked in Dublin between 2008 and 2013, has urged An Bord Pleanala to overturn planning permission for the project on the basis of a breach of copyright.
Marden said his Irish business, Celtcia, sent a design to the council in 2009, but officials told him they have no record of it. Celtcia says it sent two more design options in 2013, and Marden met several councillors to discuss the plans.
“In my professional opinion, after almost 15 years in the industry, my design concepts have been significantly used without consent and contain an irrefutable amount of similarities,” the architect has told An Bord Pleanala.
“We do not claim to have come up with the idea to pedestrianise College Green, but the significant evidence we have is that council designs evolved over a number of years, from no design similarities at all to a significant number of similarities to our various designs and options, gradually increasing as the years went on.”
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Dublin city council said it would not be appropriate to comment while the planning application was with An Bord Pleanala. However, Marden has told the planning appeals board that the council maintains “there are no similarities between the designs”.
Marden claims a computer-controlled water feature with 32 jets to regulate the flow was “copyright of Celtcia”, while a limited turnaround “circus” for taxis and emergency vehicles and the location of a bicycle lane matched his design.