The proposal for the Motor Tax Office building represents a further step in the development of a cohesive campus plan for the administrative headquarters of Cork County Council. As such it carries forward the overall strategy of carefully considered incremental development whose ultimate goal is the creation of an administrative complex of the highest architectural and urban design qualities.

 

The Motor Tax Building will form the southern side and therefore complete the new courtyard which is being created on the western side of the County Hall tower. This courtyard for the use of the County Hall staff and the public alike is a major component of the overall plan for the campus. As a space it is complementary to the large public concourse of the original extension to the County Hall. Of itself it will have many distinguishing features not least the sunken courtyards of the Library building, shortly to commence construction, as well as the Curragheen River which passes through the newly formed space. It will be landscaped with new planting along with the retention of the existing trees on the southern side of the river. In the context of the Bishopstown and Wilton Area Action Plan and its aspiration for a more interesting riverside amenity space this new courtyard has the potential to be a significant event along the proposed river walks