Buildings on stilts in the Liffey
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In today’s Times – a strange proposal from the DDDA to build 15m out into the liffey from the north wall, creating a cluster of high-rise buildings surrounded on the north, and partly on the east and west by a u-shaped canal. I can’t decide straight-off if this is brilliant or terrible idea or whether that would just depend on the quality of the buildings.
there’s a fairly obscure model of the stilts project featured in todays IT, can’t make it out to be honest. It seems like the proposal encompases the north quays from east link to the new beckett bridge …
strange idea …
From today’s IT
What is shown in the model is a series of notional towers, some with extraordinary shapes and colours, that would be built on stilts in the Liffey – if the amended planning scheme is approved by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.According to John McLaughlin, the authority’s director of architecture, the proposed cluster would provide a dramatic counterpoint to the generally low-rise nature of the new buildings that have sprung up along the riverfront in the past decade.
Is this not what should have happened on the north quays anyway ? are DDDA now acknowledging the blandness of their 5 storey stretch? (supplied mainly by STW it has to be said).
its a scandal that expensive land is being wasted on 5/6 story building, the blocks going up in Sandyford and Tallaght are much more impressive especially given their location, the scale of building down in the docks is a joke…
Under the amended scheme, this Manhattan-style cluster would straddle North Wall Quay between the East Link Bridge and the proposed suspension bridge near Spencer Dock designed by Spanish architect-engineer Santiago Calatrava.
A block model of the radical plan formed part of the docklands presentation in Ireland’s much-praised exhibition at the Lisbon Architectural Triennale, which closes later this month. It has yet to be officially unveiled by the docklands authority.
What is shown in the model is a series of notional towers, some with extraordinary shapes and colours, that would be built on stilts in the Liffey – if the amended planning scheme is approved by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
So don’t worry – it will never happen – for me standing on a bridge in Dublin, and looking out to sea, with liffey getting wider and wider is one of the glories of Dublin.
@Paul Clerkin wrote:
So don’t worry – it will never happen – for me standing on a bridge in Dublin, and looking out to sea, with liffey getting wider and wider is one of the glories of Dublin.
Looks like most of that area is not outside the liffey, in the undeveloped area between Spencer Dock and the Point (possibly including the remainder of Spencer Dock?)
Even if the buildings on the Liffey do not go ahead it would be nice to see some higher buildings going in on the other parts.
i really like this…… you can find more info here PDF http://www.linetosurface.org/downloads/10.pdf
and the website for Ireland at Lisbon Architecture Triennale http://www.linetosurface.org/ …has some other pretty interesting projects by 11 Irish architects
Does Frank Gehry know that people have been pinching his off-cuts? 😉
My main reservation about the short-lived images of the Heneghan Peng plan for Custom House Quay (temporarily posted on this site; might surface again in the next while…?) was the way it compromised the integrity of the quay wall with a series of projecting jetties/slips/wharves. This scheme proposes much the same, with the added problem of height. As I’ve said before, I’ve no problem with appropriate height in appropriate locations in the docklands, but this is categorically not an appropriate location. Haven’t they ever heard the phrase ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right?’ Atoning for the excessive conservatism of the original docklands developments with some eleventh-hour spectacular eye-catcher won’t fool anyone. Will it?
@ctesiphon wrote:
As I’ve said before, I’ve no problem with appropriate height in appropriate locations in the docklands, but this is categorically not an appropriate location.
I would have no problem with some well designed taller buildings here, but not in this manner. I assume this high rise change of heart must be to do with a change of personnel within the DDDA & the realisation that their new river front along north wall quay is really pretty poor.
If Spencer Dock as currently under construction could be erased & replaced by something similar to what is proposed here, without breaking the line of the river or quay wall, i’d be quite happy. Thats what should have happened on this site, this attempt to try & fix it is odd & belated.
Having said that, I’m not dismissing it entirely, very little detail at this stage.
@Peter FitzPatrick wrote:
If Spencer Dock as currently under construction could be erased & replaced by something similar to what is proposed here, without breaking the line of the river or quay wall, i’d be quite happy. Thats what should have happened on this site, this attempt to try & fix it is odd & belated.
Isn’t this east of Spencer Dock, couldn’t the high buildings and fun u-shaped canal be built without breaking the sweep of the river?
@notjim wrote:
I can’t decide straight-off if this is brilliant or terrible idea or whether that would just depend on the quality of the buildings.
It’s a terrible idea.
they’re in effect diverting the river to Mayor St and then back out again – it doesn’t jut out from the quay quite as much I’d intially thought.
This will be a fairly major ammendment to the North Lotts area plan. Last update was for Point Village tower.
How will this affect Spencer Dock?
Ridiculous waste of time-please tell me this is some 2:2 undergrad project? Do the DDDA even have statutory control over the riverbed on which this idiocy is proposed? I would have thought that is vested in the Dept. of marine or some such central govt. body
The best project on that is the one that suggests that the M50 can be turned into a quasi-park during off-peak times: http://www.linetosurface.org/03.html
whether this goes ahead or not is not the issue… is this the DDDA finally acknowledging the wasted opportunity they had with the IFSC, Spencer and Grand Canal Dock… it never ceases to amaze me how bland the IFSC is Grand Canal Dock is only marginally better as for Spencer Dock well we will have to wait and see
i think it’s quite cool, apart from breaching the river line. Surely this space could be compensated by going up a little higher. In general though if this can be done I can’t see the problem here…
@kefu wrote:
The best project on that is the one that suggests that the M50 can be turned into a quasi-park during off-peak times: http://www.linetosurface.org/03.html
Heh, reminds me of the elevated motorway in Sao Paulo which is gridlocked during the week, then closed to traffic at the weekends and open to the public for walks, football (obviously) or whatever they choose.
I was trying to work out where the inspiration for the building shapes might have come from- Gehry, perhaps, but where have I seen those contortions before?
Aah yes… ring any bells?😮
ha ha …very good ….though they seem more shakey like this one http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=7-XWmw7KzPE&mode=related&search= 😀
All very interesting. But the whole thing is situated on a site currently owned (mostly) by Liam Carroll (Old Brooks Thomas) and under construction to build Anglo Irish Banks new headquarters (amongst other offices). Changing the whole landscape of the area would require an enormous amount of CPO’s or deals and rethinks.
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