Re: Re: National Irish Bank, Wilton Terrace

Fair question, mp. And, eh, don’t worry about the negativity. 😉

I think it’s an okay building. I like it for the reasons GrahamH suggests- respectful of scale, etc. Solid if unremarkable.

I do miss the old railings that fronted the previous building, which presumably dated from an earlier incarnation (19th century?), and wonder why they couldn’t have been kept- this tabula rasa approach to redevelopment has never convinced me, as if a set of railings might be the undoing of a project.

Also, this building is another example of a replacement building that seems to require total site coverage. Generally I’d favour bringing such buildings to the edge of the street, but filling out the site right to the edge on all sides results in a structure that looms somewhat over adjoining sites/properties, and looks like it’s on steroids. The previous incumbent may have been a bit too reticent, but this isn’t the solution to that problem.

Surely there’s a third way?

[/Tony Blair]