Re: Re: National Gallery Extension

@Paul Clerkin wrote:

I don’t but I don’t seem to recall the shopfront as having much architectural merit – but then I’m old and my memory is foggy now – and at the time I worked in the area, I was living in kennedy’s

You’re probably right about this, the shopfront probably didn’t have a whole lot of architectural merit. It’s not a good sign that none of us can remember the thing very clearly.

I know it’s a bit pedantic to go on about the decision to retain the victorian fenestration and the plaster quoin details, but we get to see so few brave attempts to actually ‘restore’ buildings instead of just ‘conserve’ them that it just seems a pity to me that they couldn’d bring themselve to go that last ten yards.

As an aside, while fruitlessly searching for a photograph of no. 5 South Leinster Street (the house in question), I came across these pictures (in Pearson) of it’s original neighbour, no. 29 Clare Street, which was demolished for the Nation Gallery extension in 1989. Does anyone know what happened to the excellent cut-stone door case and the great sweeping steps? Did stuff like this go to land fill, or does it now adorn a gazebo in some gallery director’s garden?

Just in case there’s any missunderstanding about this, I love the National Gallery extension (with a few small reservations), and huge credit is due to Benson & Forsyth for the way that they adapted their plans to address the ABP decision in 1998 that required the retention of 5 Clare Street, and to the late lamented Uinseann MacEoin for taking the appeal that forced that decision.