The Dublin Space Invaders crew are to reveal all of the entrants’ designs for the vacant Thomas Street plot on Friday, the 15th of November. The Dublin City Council (DCC) Wood Quay Venue will be hosting the event, and we can expect to view cutting-edge designs that make use of the derelict plot of land at the centre of this competition. You can view a map of the land in question at the bottom of this article.

UPDATE: 2013 Dublin Space Invaders Winners Announced>>

Here is a little background from the Space Invaders team… “Space Invaders is the first planning competition aimed at planning students and graduates based in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Six teams from four planning schools have entered and are currently preparing their conceptual plans for a site located on Thomas Street”.

Related Story:
Dublin Space Invaders – Redeveloping Vacant Thomas Street Plot

A cash prize will be handed to the team of winning planning students, who were asked to find some viable and exciting plans that may inspire the owners of this derelict plot of land, The Digital Hub. The aim of the project is to highlight the talent of young planners, and also to create dialogue around the fact the Thomas Street is so important yet neglected. The criteria for judging the designs was as follows; context, connections, inclusivity, variety, efficiency, distinctiveness, layout and public realm. And the Space Invaders asked students to think outside the box, and “plan beyond site-line, rethink the site, transform the area”.

The competition organisers told me earlier today that they are extremely excited to be showing off the final designs from the teams of students, which come from the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), University College Cork (UCC), University College Dublin (UCD) and Queen’s University Belfast. By all accounts all of the entrants have shown a great deal of ingenuity with some very original ideas thrown into the mix. It will be very interesting to see the final designs!

Dublin Space Invaders Links: Website, Facebook

Would you like to attend the launch?

Limited places are available for the launch, which will feature presentations and refreshments, with Jennie and Wagner from the Luncheonette NCAD providing the nutrition! It is to be held from 1.30pm to 5.30pm at the Wood Quay Venue of Dublin City Council, and interested members of the local community are encouraged to attend. You can book your spot by emailing your names and details to spaceinvaders@dublin.com.

Dublin Space Invaders 2013 Judges:

Dick Gleeson – Dublin City Planner
Bruce Philips – Assistant Area Manager
Edel Flynn – CEO The Digital Hub, Dublin
Grainne Shaffrey – Architect
Mary Crowley – The Irish Planning Institute
Dr Peter Geraghty – Royal Town Planning Institute

Dublin Space Invaders 2013 Sponsors:

The Dublin Space Invaders 2013 local sponsors include Diageo, The Digital Hub, and the Dublin City Council (DCC). Other sponsors of this amazing competition are the Royal Town Planning Institute Ireland (RTPI), the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) and planning consultancies; Downey Planning, BMA Planning, Masterplan Associates, McGill Planning and MacCabe Durney Barnes.

It really is great to see so many entities getting involved in a competition which will hopefully stimulate debate surrounding Urban Regeneration in Dublin 8.

Here is a map of area which students had to plan for…

Hashtags: #Dublin8, #DublinSpaceInvaders, #Enterprise, #TheDigitalHub, #TheLiberties, #ThomasStreet, #UrbanRegeneration