CHARTERED SURVEYING PRACTICE LAUNCHES IN IRELAND
GIA Surveyors (GIA), a specialist multi-disciplinary surveying and design consultancy with over 25 years of experience, has announced the launch of a new office in Dublin. This marks the firm’s fifth office and follows the opening of its Belfast operations in 2018, which joins London, Manchester, and Bristol.
GIA comes to the market with the largest Daylight/Sunlight and Rights of Light departments across the UK and Ireland, having worked on some of the most iconic and prestigious developments in major cities throughout the UK, Ireland and overseas – including Battersea Power Station, the London Shard and the American Embassy in the UK, alongside leading architects, planning consultants, legal experts and developers.
The firm is seeking to meet the growing and immediate demand for experienced Daylight/Sunlight and Rights of Light consultants in Ireland following the relaxing of building heights, as well as increased density and other forms of intensive development that are currently being undertaken in response to the property crisis. The company plans to grow its Dublin-based team across 2021/2022.
The business is also formally rolling out VU.CITY across Ireland, which it has co-created. The technology creates highly accurate, fully interactive 3D digital twins of cities that help to create, refine, share and understand the journey of developments. It allows the firm to advise developers and architects on the implications of their scheme in a matter of minutes rather than days and weeks. Accurate to 15cm, the VU.CITY platform covers the whole of Dublin City, for example, and integrates data and demonstrates the real-life impact of buildings on their surrounding environment.
VU.CITY offers huge benefits to architects, developers, local authorities, planning consultants, and agents both in their own work and supports greater communication and collaboration. This offers a unique opportunity to move away from the paper-based planning system and embrace the new digital age.
Kevin Francis, Managing Partner, GIA Ireland, said: “Ireland has always been an important market for GIA, so we are delighted to launch our Dublin office. We believe the market is brimming with opportunities to make a positive, sustainable impact on the built environment and its surrounding communities. Good urban design is essential in supporting the economic, social, cultural, and sustainability goals of Ireland’s cities and is integral to ensuring that Dublin maintains its competitive edge as a place to live, work and play.
“However, Right of Light disputes are growing more common in larger cities. While Ireland has begun to slowly break the cycle of low-density buildings in Dublin, Cork, and other areas, Rights of Light is now becoming an important consideration for developers and other key stakeholders.
“A lack of readily available and often contradictory information has seen Rights of Light consulting only being called upon when an issue arises. This can prove to be costly for developers, funders, and end-users, and can lead to delays, expensive legal costs and in the worst-case-scenarios a cease to the build.”
Denise Maguire Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine
