The proposed new hotel extension is to be located on the space that Hospitality House currently occupies on the site, along Cumberland Street South. The site is fronted by the existing Alex Hotel along Fenian street and continues along south Cumberland Street, where it meets Hospitality House. The ground floor will contain a new hotel restaurant & breakfast area with associated kitchen and back of house spaces, conference rooms, small garden area and a new link corridor connecting it into the existing hotel at the same ground floor level. On the lower ground floor will be a Spa / wellness centre, staff areas, delivery, storage, plant and all necessary ancillary spaces. This will also connect seamlessly into the existing hotel at that level. Where the new proposed hotel extension is connected to the existing hotel on ground and lower ground floors, the upper floors, containing the bedrooms, will be physically separated to allow light into these rooms and views down into the raised garden in space between the existing hotel and new extension. The proposed new hotel bedrooms are all contained within 3 building volumes, graduating from 4 & 5 storeys to the north & west elevations up to 8 storeys over ground floor level, to the main volume facing the existing hotel. The new extension steps back on the northern & western façades (facing Boyne street & Cumberland Street South), to gradually reduce the building volume to meet the 3-storey Dublin City Council residential buildings and to mitigate overshadowing of the neighbouring amenity space behind the development. The variety of scales of the proposed building is designed to help fit with the existing variety of building scales in the immediate vicinity of this city centre area and is sensitive to the residential conservation adjoining the northern side of the site. Bedrooms are carefully located to prevent overlooking of surrounding residential buildings.