1965 – Former ESB Headquarters, Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin

Fitzwilliam Street once the longest expanse of intact Georgian architecture anywhere in the world was destroyed in the 1960s when the ESB a supposedly responsible semi-state body wantonly demolished twelve of the houses. The Georgian vista that existed till then consisted of almost a mile of continuous houses passing through two squares. Between the two squares, the ESB removed almost the whole left-hand side of Fitzwilliam Street to build their headquarters, an example of modern architecture, which was the result of an architectural competition held in 1961.

Afterwards they tried to redeem themselves by restoring one house that they failed to demolish to a facsimile reproduction of life in the 18th century – ironic when you appreciate what they destroyed. It only further displayed their disregard for Georgian architecture in that they assumed that by restoring one single building to a theme park attraction they could apologise for the atrocity that they committed on the city of Dublin.

The architect Sam Stephenson argued at the time of construction, that Georgian houses were “never intended to last more than a lifetime” and it should be clearly understood that “they cannot be usefully preserved at all”. Stephenson’s own work was demolished in late 2017.