Reply To: Stephenson – poacher turned gamekeeper?

That’s it – blame the architect. Sam Stephenson was merely the instrument of Irish society’s confusion and self-loathing at the time. The design merits of his buildings may be open to quesstion, but he can hardly be blamed for the demolition spree of the sixties/seventies.

In fact, I think that the ESB building on Fitzwilliam Street is a rather fine example of new-build architecture in an established historical context. The materials are contemporary yet sensitive. The scale and rhythm of the facade are excellently judged and it looks like a large amount of accommodation has been fitted in while maintaing the scale of the area. It IS rather unfortunate that an enoprmous chunk of intact Georgian architecture was flattened in order to provide a site. But this is something that everyone was was doing and the wider society is guilty of. It is unlikely that it made any financial difference to Sam Stephenson where the building was built. The ESB, on the other hand, obviously had a great financial interest in the demolition.

Rant over.