July 18, 2008 13:43

U2 get go-ahead for Norman Foster hotel facelift

Plans approved for band's Dublin building

Photo Gallery: U2
Photo: Pa Photos

U2's Bono and The Edge have won a four-year legal battle to give their Dublin hotel, The Clarence, a futuristic facelift.

Architect Norman Foster - whose designs include Wembley Stadium and new The Reichstag dome - is set to triple the number of rooms in the hotel and design a floodlit atrium set to go on top of the original 1930s building.

However, the development has been the subject of some controversy in the Irish capital.

Many see the designs being at odds with the city's architecture, arguing this is the latest instance of U2 members enjoying preferential treatment from the authorities.

"We would obviously condemn the decision," Ian Lumley of Ireland's heritage-protection organisation An Taisce told AP. "It undermines national legislation on architectural heritage."

The planning authorities have approved the separate 400ft "U2 tower", which will be Ireland's tallest building and will house the band's new recording studio on its top floor.

The band were forced to give up their old studio due to redevelopment work in Dublin's docklands.