Tallaght Public Realm by DFLA

New Public Realm for Tallaght Town Centre – A Human Habitat
This landscape architect-led project marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of modern-day Tallaght. Today, Tallaght functions as one of four primary urban centres in Dublin’s polycentric planning strategy. However, in the 1980s, it was still a village surrounded by farmland. The first phase of its transformation involved the construction of a shopping centre, surrounded by surface car parking – an urban model imported from mid-twentieth-century North America. Civic functions such as the Town Hall, Theatre, Tram, Hospital, and College were added only in later stages, therefore, following a reverse urban design chronology.

Our project redefines the town’s civic identity, applying a regenerative place-making approach—healing spatial disconnection, enhancing ecology, and fostering inclusion. It is a unique step in the Irish context. In a bold move supported by the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, South Dublin County Council has used landscape architecture as a pre-emptive strategy to add value, signal potential, and catalyse future development. The new public realm encourages planners and developers to re-imagine car-dominated spaces and reinvest in civic life.

Our goal was to humanise a partially completed town centre. The project is the first attempt to create a coherent human geography that links the existing civic functions to the emerging redevelopment zone of Cookstown to the north. It opens up scores of hectares of ‘no-man’s-land’ for future civic and residential life. Yet the area remains surrounded by vacant sites earmarked for schools and homes, not yet constructed. The council’s bold investment provides a glimpse into a better future—one that invites the removal of expansive car parks to the south, enabling further civic consolidation and imbuing the town centre with meaning.

To the south, the scheme lays the foundation for a city-wide fast bus network, improving regional connectivity. It stitches existing civic open spaces into a cohesive public realm that weaves around the Town Hall, Library, and Theatre, extending to a new Innovation Centre—home to start-ups and growing enterprises. It also unlocks future pedestrian and cycle links to the east and west, a new school site, and residential plots. The public realm adjusts in scale as it moves through the site, forming a series of outdoor “living rooms” that accommodate everyday activities—picnicking, studying, socialising—as well as flexible spaces for markets, performances, and events. Each space is designed to adapt—both functionally and socially.

A consistent commitment to universal accessibility underpins the entire design. Every decision, from the regrading of ground to the alignment of paths, responds thoughtfully to Tallaght’s topography. At the square adjacent to the Town Hall, we undertook a complete reconfiguration of levels. A previously inaccessible gradient has been transformed into a terraced landscape that now serves as a picnic area, study space, and amphitheatre for outdoor performances, film screenings, and cultural events.

Biodiversity and sustainability are core components of the project. The planting strategy is organised in layers: bulbs at ground level, followed by groundcover, clipped hedges, multi-stem trees, and grids of flowering cherry trees. This layered approach adds visual richness while enhancing biodiversity by creating varied habitats for local wildlife. Rain gardens along pedestrian routes manage stormwater and serve as soft buffers between people and adjacent car parks.

We used native plant species and strategically placed trees across the site to ensure the public spaces mature well over time—providing shade, improving air quality, and reinforcing the civic character of the town centre. To further support biodiversity, we included bird boxes and a swift tower. These features serve not just ecological functions but also educational ones—raising awareness of urban wildlife and sustainability. Given the proximity to schools and cultural institutions, the landscape itself becomes a place of learning and discovery.

This project reflects the complexity of Tallaght’s urban design history. We have created a hybrid place – part- public park, part- greening, part-wayfinding and access, part-town centre, part-infrastructure, and, most importantly, part-nature. We have added a much-needed layer of nature to the town centre—an experience for humans long absent after five decades of car-led development. In creating these hybrid spaces, we have seen people begin to occupy them in more diverse, inclusive, and joyful ways. It feels as though we have restored, or perhaps created, a true habitat for humans.

Other credits:
Client/Local Authority: South Dublin County Council,
Civil/Structural Engineer: PUNCH Consulting Engineers,
M+E Engineer: Axiseng Consulting Engineers
QS: Austin Reddy & Company,
Main Contractor: Clonmel Enterprises Ltd.

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