Re: Clayton Love’s 8-storey Douglas Hotel
By the way sw101 – I was chatting to a director w/ Clayton Love when viewing the designs for the Douglas Central Properties Ltd 8-storey hotel to the south of Cinema World and North of East Douglas Village – and he confirmed it also that the Hyde Partnership were indeed the main design team behind the scheme. RORSA had only be consulted at the initial design stages – the final design is all Hyde.
Its a very narrow building east-to-west, stepped from 6 to 8 storeys along this aspect also. The north and south elevations are pleasant, nothing noteworthy – white walls, with extensive utilisation of glass, the ‘trendy’ timber cladding and zinc cladding. Basement parking is accessed from the west from the former TSB premises. Its a nice design but nothing to write home about. Those worried about a Watergold Building Pt. II – rest assured, it doesn’t go there even a little. It does look a little over-dominating when viewed from an East Douglas Village perspective, but in its entire setting perspective, it actually looks fine. So far, I am only aware of 1 objection. It’s no harm for Douglas to get something noteworthy like this building – however in my own opinion, its only real distinction is its height. I suppose the trick was in the thinking, ‘don’t design anything too exciting, keep it nice and ordinary and contemporary so people won’t get too huffed up about it’. Yet my only concern relates to traffic management in the area – officially designated in Ireland’s Top 10 Traffic Blackspots.
*UPDATES*
:rolleyes: CIE Chairman John Lynch will be in Cork next Monday to meet City Manager Joe Gavin, planners and other councillors regarding the exhaustingly overdue 500m euro redevelopment of Horgan’s Quay. Fine Gael Councillor and former Lord Mayor Colm Burke has proposed that the City Council enact a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) on the site as a means of finally getting the project moving after 7 years of arsing around by CIE. The plan would see CIE lease back all the required rail activities will the remaining 10 acres would be allocated to the successful developer/developers (in a joint co-ordinated strategy) to redevelop the quay. Joe Gavin, who often refers to the failure to redeveloped the quay as ‘his greatest regret’ as City Manager, has vowed to have a firm commitment and actual movement on the project by Summer 2005 from CIE or otherwise alternative action will be taken – a planning application deadline has been earmarked for no later than Feb 2006. The Department of Finance, Transport and Environment have been approached for consultative purposes by CCC. John Lynch was scheduled also to be in the city next Monday to launch the 25m euro redevelopment of Kent Station.
😡 As of today, the Sunday’s Well Residents Group have officially lodged their appeal with ABP against the decision taken to grant permission for the redevelopment of Jurys Hotel on the Western Road by O’Callaghan Properties. (Temperature rising, vision blurring, rage taking over…)
