18/06/2026
"The Romans, the Greeks, the Renaissance leaders — and most importantly the Wide Streets Commissioners who gave us the Dublin we love — they planned by drawing the future. The best pieces of our city result from that. We replaced it with text." — Tony Reddy
We recorded this podcast standing inside a building that doesn't exist yet.
At the Lifesize Plans Ireland facility in Dublin, projected at 1:1 scale all around us, we virtually walked through what will be the tallest residential building in Ireland — a 30-storey tower near Heuston Station, twice the height of Liberty Hall.
It's the perfect setting for the real question: why does Irish planning still happen on paper — in thousand-page documents almost nobody reads — when we can now walk a scheme before a single block is laid?
Tony Reddy, Chairman of Reddy Architecture + Urbanism, makes the case that Ireland's "discretionary" system breeds the delay and objection we all live with — and that European cities plan, debate and agree their future in three dimensions.
John Foley of Lifesize Plans Ireland shows what 1:1 design validation does to de-risk hundreds of millions before foundations go in.
David McDowell of Reddy Architecture + Urbanism walks us through the live model dropped into the Dublin cityscape.
Then the room opened up:
🔹 Gavin Duffy of RealSim Ltd. — turning objectors into contributors through immersive engagement
🔹 Niall Morrissey of Housing Infrastructure Services Company (HISCo) — funding the shovel-ready infrastructure that unblocks delivery
🔹 Darragh Ryan of Remagin Ireland by Etex — what 1:1 walk-throughs mean for offsite construction
🔹 Richie Carroll of Homely — rent-to-own and unlocking demand
…alongside the homebuilders and delivery teams who joined us live.
Huge thanks too to John and Emma for hosting us.
The thread through all of it: Urban Development Zones, front-loaded consultation, and a new Planning and Development Act that allows 3D city models but doesn't yet mandate them.
The Galway Housing Forum recently summed it up — a plan "can't just be a yellow box on a map".
The technology is here. The question is whether the system will use it.
🇪🇺 This kicks off iProperty Radio's non-political Place Engage Placemaking Roadshow, running throughout Ireland's EU Council Presidency: 26 counties. 26 weeks. One shared conversation about place: Faigheann cos ar siúl rud nach bhfaigheann cos ina chónaí.
*Apologies in advance, the audio for the first few minutes is a bit echoey, but e hit our stride a few minutes in – bear with us - joys of a LIVE event!
Listen back: https://open.spotify.com/episode/64yBaZl6z2klyuKBibBKsx?si=9yfHGSEYRseWkCus7TJ6iA
Watch in full: https://youtu.be/7XCJZWxTCNs?si=2Lb_kuPAUDJjTSRF
