The John Lewis-anchored scheme was approved by Dublin City Council in December 2008 but that decision attracted a flood of appeals. Now the appeals board has ruled that the scheme is “over-scaled” and pays insufficient respect to the historic streetscape around Moore Street.

Joe O’Reilly’s development vehicle has been given until November to rework the designs, reducing the overall height of the buildings from 13 to seven storeys and redesigning the O’Connell Street entrance. The height reduction has been imposed so that the Dublin Central scheme mirrors Contros’s redevelopment of the nearby Arnotts site, which has already been granted planning consent.

Parking at the scheme will also have to be reduced from 1,100 to 500 spaces.