DDDA / Docklands Miscellany

[sw101]

Is there a city that does not have a Ferris wheel?

melbourne has one, i drive past it on the way to a couple of projects i'm doing.

unfortunately it wasn't designed to withstand 5 days of 40+ degrees heat like we had in February and it cracked badly, out of action for up to 18 months while they figure out how to fix it.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/02/2479802.htm

i wouldn't like to see a wheel in dublin, mostly because i get quite claustrophobic and i wouldn't go up in it myself. an observation tower would be great, the higher the better.

[missarchi]

A rumour of Indian steel... so many so called monuments are not made in Ireland?

Ireland needs to lose its mables this decade... otherwise the balls will drop

Is there a passive row house area in the development plan?

[lostexpectation]

so harry crosbie on the late late last night telling us how he does everything for the benefit of the nation

25mins in
http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1048526
talking about the o2, libeskind, conference centre

the parlour, his public plaza spoken about before, for outdoor gigs,cvic events and markets etc,
partnered by ddda and dcc.

still talking about the point village but where is it? is it happening?

not too effected by the downturn cos he bought the land so long ago so cheaply

[jdivision]

Point Village being built, behind O2, having a launch party of sorts for public plaza next week. He way overpaid for libeskind so maybe that's why he says it's all for good of the peoples.

[GregF]

Ah Harry, has to be commended for his bit he has done for the city. OK he's made his money like all businessmen but the city would have been lacking without his contributions of entertainment venues, etc...

[lostexpectation]

i thought the point village included the tower is that still going ahead?

[cgcsb]

It's officially stalled, the foundation is mostly intact and tarmaced over. It can be reopened in the event of an economic upturn. I can't see the point villiage being a success without the tower though, it's very much the focal point of the whole project

[dave123]

the docklands is coming on now. But 8 to 10 stories seems to be the new black!! like boxish is the word

Can we achieve 25 stories??

I'm just saying..

[cgcsb]

the docklands is coming on now. But 8 to 10 stories seems to be the new black!! like boxish is the word

Can we achieve 25 stories??

I'm just saying..

aqua vetro is to be 24 stories if that helps. and I'm sure the watchtower(40) stories will get oit of the ground sooner or later

[Cathal Dunne]

aqua vetro is to be 24 stories if that helps. and I'm sure the watchtower(40) stories will get oit of the ground sooner or later

Alto Vetro is already 16 stories and Monte Vetro will be 15 stories, so that trinity of Treasury buildings will break the landscape of 8-10 storey buildings.

[cgcsb]

yup my hat goes off to treasury and their manage a toi. inspiring stuff in these difficult times. I wonder will they go ahead whith the pint glass one? doubt it but live in hopehttp://www.treasuryholdings.com/NorthWallQuay.htm

Also their spencer dock project: http://www.treasuryholdings.com/projectDetail.aspx?id=172

[gunter]

Dockland's Festival today :

[notjim]

A bit short of boats compared to previous years, no?

[poukai]

Dunno if there were that many less boats than last year, but most of them were off down near the Beckett bridge, so not as visible from the centre. Also, making people pay to go on board was not a good idea, I hardly saw anyone on them, last year, they were full! Still, nice festival all the same... Dutch pancakes... **drool**

[tommyt]

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUL121396

DDDA are looking to lease their old HQ on CHQ short term, mentioning 1-3 years to start with. Looks like if we get the big wheel it will be plonked in George's Dock as the bicycle terminal is being put in on the other mooted Custom House Quay location.

Edit: thanks jd-fixed that link.

[jdivision]

--- link fixed above ---

[Devin]

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUL121396

DDDA are looking to lease their old HQ on CHQ short term, mentioning 1-3 years to start with.

What?! That is fucking outrageous!! According to the article posted here, it was supposed to have been demolished in "late 2005":
http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=3786&highlight=docks+ddda+campshire

3 and a half years later, it's still there, obscuring progress along the north campshire and visually and physically spoiling the approach to Sean O'Casey Bridge.

It was assumed they decided not to bother removing it til all the works further down were finishing up, then all the obstacles could be removed at once .... but now they say they want to lease it "1-3 years to start with" .. Holy mother of sweet jaysus ..

[fergalr]

Dockland's Festival today :

Was down in the control room of the port on Tuesday morning as part of my thesis... Custom House and Liberty Hall make an endearing little couple from downstream. Monte Vetro also looks fantastic from that direction. More towers in Grand Canal Dock will amount to a nice local skyline.

[garethace]

What?! That is fucking outrageous!! According to the article posted here, it was supposed to have been demolished in "late 2005":
http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=3786&highlight=docks+ddda+campshire

3 and a half years later, it's still there, obscuring progress along the north campshire and visually and physically spoiling the approach to Sean O'Casey Bridge.

It was assumed they decided not to bother removing it til all the works further down were finishing up, then all the obstacles could be removed at once .... but now they say they want to lease it "1-3 years to start with" .. Holy mother of sweet jaysus ..

It was nice to have the luxury of this point of view for a few years during the Celtic Tiger, when the public coffers were bulging to capacity. I have to say, I think using the old CHQ headquarters should have been done years ago. I think it is a step in the right direction. It might perform the function of allowing some young enterprise to start up its business and attract some small scale activity into that area. Which it lacks greatly at the moment, because of the prsence of so many large behemoth office blocks. The more of the large type, single tenant blocks you get in the docklands area, the more convinced the builders (who hold freeholds for all the land down there remember) become, that accomodating large single tenants is the only way to go. In reality, it is the wrong way to go.

I couldn't care if it was a line of prefabs on the campshires personally, as long as it is doing something to provide stimulus in that area. Remember, the failure of American banks has left a complete gaping void in the docklands 'master plan'. The master plan was devised for a different time. Its origins must be at least 25 years old at this stage. I expect some off shoot from Trinity College, or the National University of Ireland to occupy the space and start providing some kind of employment for the 50,000 or so graduates ending up on the life register this summer. The location of the CHQ headquarters is ideal for any number of projects trying to startup at the moment, looking at solutions to re-wire the economy and re-direct thousands of lives in a new direction. This public tendering process is a formality that DDDA have to go through. We have to get creative now people, get used to it. Too many lives depend on our coming up with solutions, even if they are interim solutions, as opposed to well worked out, long term sustainable development plans.

http://www.archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=7692

Brian O' Hanlon

[Devin]

Yeah I know gareth, everyone's desperate for money. You should see what Meath County Council are granting permission for in a desperate rates grab out in Carton, an important 18th cen. estate which is already half wrecked by development. Belive me, it's shocking. There's no excuse re the old DDDA office. Clear campshires is in their masterplan. There plenty of locatinds for that type of activity; eg that huge site between Spencer Dock and Point that's not likely to be developed now for some time ... get some incubation units in there.

[GregF]

The Ferris wheel is a big no no in my books. They are ten a penny at the mo.....and even one up the road in Belfast. Can the DDDA brains that are recieving thousands in salaries not think of anything original FFS.

The quality and look of the architecture in the docks is more important.

[GrahamH]

I'm surprised at your line of thought there Brian. The city is swimming in vacant office space and potential start-up premises for businesses available on a short-term basis.

Keeping the DDDA offices exhibits the same kind of thinking that sustained the former gardens of the Castle as a P&T dumping ground for so much of the 20th century. No thanks. Whack em immediately.

[garethace]

Yeah I know gareth, everyone's desperate for money. You should see what Meath County Council are granting permission for in a desperate rates grab out in Carton, an important 18th cen. estate which is already half wrecked by development. Belive me, it's shocking. There's no excuse re the old DDDA office. Clear campshires is in their masterplan. There plenty of locatinds for that type of activity; eg that huge site between Spencer Dock and Point that's not likely to be developed now for some time ... get some incubation units in there.

I still think the incubation units have to be within easy walking distance of the major campuses. At least the campshire location is still only a 5 minute walk from Trinity. When you get to Trinity college, you are also on a very fast track bus corridor to UCD campus. Imagine the CO2 emissions saved by having it all joined up in this way.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, the developments such as Irish Life, Busarus, IFSC, CHQ all need to be re-invented and re-used to create low level activity close to the main buzz of things in Dublin city. Otherwise the economy doesn't stand a chance of boot strapping itself up again. We need to provide floor space where it is accessible.

I would be the first person in general though to support the argument for improving and extending the pedestrian realm.

Brian O' Hanlon

[garethace]

I'm surprised at your line of thought there Brian. The city is swimming in vacant office space and potential start-up premises for businesses available on a short-term basis.

The developers in Ireland don't know how to break it up and manage the space in that way. We have not got an advanced enough model to cope with that, in either residential or commercial space. Indeed, with the way the global economy works these days, often the worker requires both flexible short term living space and working space. It is so different to what we are used to. Getting around the globe with air travel, and fibre optic technology has changed the rules so much that property management has fallen too far behind.

The same is true of Energy generation. What is starting to happen is a new intermediate layer of information technology is creeping in between the supplier and the consumer. The intermediate player is looking at how energy is produced and how the consumer is using it and when. We need a similar thing to happen with property. The dafts, my homes, etc looked interesting because they live on the internet rather than in a physical auctioneers office. But we need to push this a lot further.

In simple terms, property management has to borrow some of its approach today from the utility companies. It would be ideal if people with utility scale experience moved into property management. In the same way that Amory Lovins remarked about the automobile industry. That many executives from the aeronautical industry who understand modern materials, fuel efficiency etc are now working for Ford, GM etc.

I suppose the big thing to watch in Dublin is trends with projects like the old Irish Times site on D'olier Street. The clever thing is that the Irish Times was housed in a new and larger building on Tara Street if I am not mistaken. From an Irish Times point of view, it is off the beaten track. But from a Tara Street point of view, it can welcome its new visitor with open arms. The move allowed for the Fleet Street/D'olier Street site to be opened up for re-development. Now the next stage, of projects such as this, is to make very clever use of the old site on the main thoroughfare. That demands us to develop a new model for how we effectively and creatively manage property.

Brian O' Hanlon

[jdivision]

The developers in Ireland don't know how to break it up and manage the space in that way.

Given nearly everything designed and built in last five years had break up options of some description I'd fundamentally disagree with that idea