Abbey Theatre is unlikely to be redeveloped at its present location
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I would love to see Hawkins House knocked down and rebuild the Abbey where the old Theatre Royal used to be along with a new Screen cinema complex. A landmark development of international significance incoprpoating the 2 would be great.
Pity about O’Connell Street. Would have loved to see it down there. I imagine that they are thinking about either the northern or southern docklands.
Racking my brains to think of other suitable sites and not coming up with much. Much of Smithfield is now under redevelopment or completed.
Unless they are thinking about using land freed up by a goverment department relocating to Ballygoarseways Co Westmeath….
Someone suggested the “old” Coláiste Mhuire site on Parnell Square to me this evening.
Could that be a runner?
Originally posted by PaulC
I would love to see Hawkins House knocked down and rebuild the Abbey where the old Theatre Royal used to be along with a new Screen cinema complex. A landmark development of international significance incoprpoating the 2 would be great.Now that would be a fascinating idea… Especially in the context of the future of College Green etc being discussed in another thread. Me votes for that!
Originally posted by vinnyfitz
Someone suggested the “old” Coláiste Mhuire site on Parnell Square to me this evening.Could that be a runner?
i wouldnt have thought that the site footprint was large enough
This is a fiasco, like the much needed National Stadium, and the National Conference Centre, etc….Why are the government foot-dragging and dithering about so much needed facilities? They have oodles of billions of disposable spendable euro and yet won’t commit themselves to spend a cent. The tax revenues/coffers are always abundant. What a mean backward bunch!
I bet the new Abbey Theatre will look insignificant in an insignificant spot, showing insignificant plays and attended by insignificant people. At least, I suppose, it will carry on the tradition of a fiasco that was always the Abbey!Originally posted by PaulC
I would love to see Hawkins House knocked down and rebuild the Abbey where the old Theatre Royal used to be along with a new Screen cinema complex. A landmark development of international significance incoprpoating the 2 would be great.AS with vinnyfitz, I agree that this would be a good location. It would probably have to have office space above the theatre and cinema to replace the existing space in Hawkins House.
That is an interesting proposal alright, helping to rejuvinate what is still a rundown part of the city and linking the area to any development on College Green. It would also be extraordinary that it would then be located on a mirror image site on the opposite side of the river!
As attractive as a river setting would be at Spencer Dock or Grand Canal, I’d still prefer that the Abbey remained in the heart of the ‘old’ city.Did the CC not designate the choice of Carlton site for the Abbey as offical policy a few weeks ago?
No, Graham, the city council made it official policy to move the Abbey to O’Connell Street. Not much they can do about it really – the council doesn’t have the readies.
I think Hawkins House has to be the favourite. The docklands now is full – Terry Devey got the contract for their artistic site, which had been looked at for the Abbey before. I’ve heard Colaiste Mhuire is on the shortlist of three too. Logical enough in that you have other cultural institutions nearby e.g. the municipal art gallery, the garden of remembrance, the Gate and, er, the wax museum!
Course the GPO is where it should be, and pelt An Post the hell out of there. But the building is too shallow, I’m told.
How about Fingal county council’s hq on O’Connell Street – it’s the old Dublin county council hq. I mean what are Fingal doing there given that (a) O’Connell Street is not in Fingal and (b) they have their own spanking new hq in Swords
Ah jaypers if anything I think O’Connell Street would be the ideal location. It is a missed opportunity not to build it here on the premiere street. All held up because of some stupid legal matter, from the Michael Mcdowell brigade. This is a missed opportunity. I think that the Hawkins House location is a bit too secluded in a way. A river frontage would be great too ….could be a showpiece.
I hope, when built, it will not be a mistake and the same problem arises in a few decades time…..but the Abbey was always ridden with ill luck regarding premises.Hope they get a big noise to design it if thats the case…..and with no parochial nepotism either as we have seen in past.
If you were to use the Hawkins House site, you would really want College House removed as well… give the building 3 street frontages, and make the site that bit larger, and space for a new public plaza in front of the theatre…..
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/townsend_street/anpost_lge.html
Why stop at three?
Hawkins House, The Long Stone and McTurcails should go as well,
You need to think big,
It would be entirely feasable to construct a 7-8 storey square down there incoporating mixed uses and a Civic Space.
I do kind of agree with Greg F about the ‘insignificant’ location as being the reason for the Abbey’s failure to date. The existing Abbey is an excellent Theatre it is just too small and in one of the dodgier parts of town.
I think that the Abbey should be put out as a tender with the site open to the choice of the bidding consortia, it would be interesting to see what would emerge.
i too would love to see hawkins house knocked down. it is soooo ugly.
I hear that the OPW aren’t happy with any of the three sites. Whichever they chose will be a compromise.
What I’d love to know, though, is if the judge in the Carlton Cinema site is aware of the fact that the length of time he has taken to give the judgement (about six months now) has meant that one of the state’s most important cultural institutions has to go elsewhere….
That’s an idea about the GPO, indeed it’s interesting that so few, if any, proposals have ever been made about the idea of converting the GPO for an alternative use over the years.
The drawback of the Carlton site architecturally has always been the site limitations – there’s only so much you can do with infill.
To have a national institution that specifically moves to another site, only for it to be incorporated into a terrace is rather pointless from an architectural perpective, and from the point of incorporating a civic space around it, bringing it to life etc.The Hawkins site has so much potential in this regard, esp having possibly 3 street frontages. It can stand for itself, and is also an area of the city that has such a quirky urban layout that could create impressive vistas of it, whilst also not impinging on the historic nature of the area in a way that some new builds can in more regular settings.
What do people make of the present Scott theatre. Was it purposely designed as a fortress given the area of town it’s in?
The ‘floating’ effect intended I don’t think works – not that the extention to the front helps – but overall think it is one of the most unpleasant buildings in the city, to the extent one wouldn’t even think it was architect designed. I’ve always tried to understand its design and to put it in context of being new and in good condition etc, but still cannot get round how it just looks like a giant public convenience.
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