1885 – Chemistry Building, Trinity College Dublin

The chemistry department was founded in 1711 and moved to this purpose-built building in 1885. Supposedly taking design cues from Deane and Woodward’s Museum building of thirty years before, this building features very shallow modelling of its architectural detail. This is in marked contrast to the museum.

The scale of the building is broken up by granite string courses and cornices which creates a horizontal emphasis. The windows on the main faced are paired within recessed round-headed bays which somehow fail to be dramatic or particularly eye-catching. The whole effect is curiously flat.

McCurdy & Mitchell worked together for a decade, but this was designed at the end of their partnership. McCurdy was official college architect from the early 1850s to his death in 1885.