Arnotts
- This topic has 97 replies, 28 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 7 months ago by
.
- Posts
What I want to know is why they feel the need to put a picture of a store that never existed on the bag?
They could have used the old image above or the image from the early 20th century invoices (all scrolling text and picture of the building)….
I cannot even recall a photograph of it with the central large and two flanking domes – Devin, I’ve definitely seen photos of the central tower and the tower nearest O’Connell Street – now that could be down to the difficult of getting a clear angle on the building or perhaps the other image is a fiction too? Perhaps they intended to build the design on the bag, stopped, intended terminating what was built with a tower and never bothered….
so many possibilities….
Here’s the only pic available on the net – pretty good though at showing the join:
Maybe the western tower was removed when the 60s part went up? Hardly likely though.
It’s difficult to see exactly why such a palatial facade was drwan up considering it could never be appreciated properly if built, given the location. Then again perhaps that’s why towers were used, to stand proud over everything else and be visible from all around, to make up for the lack of a dominant facade in a prominent location like Clery’s or Pims had.
I see the signature dome was only added in 1980, according to the site this pic came from. Hence presumably the surrounding railings beneath are repros afterall.
You may be right re the dome – was reading yesterday and found the date 1980 but looking now I can’t find it!
I was hoping the railings may have be based on an original design considering the ironwork of the columns etc, but they do seem to be of the shopping centre handbook variety. The forest green paint and natural wood works very well nonetheless.@Paul Clerkin wrote:
The internal railings are all repro Graham… Think the dome was later tha 1980 too…
Twas at least 1990 when the dome went in
Certainly looks later than 1980 anyway. Here’s the link to the engineering/materials firm that built the Arnotts extention – it’s here that says 1980. Intersting bits and pieces of info about the job:
@Graham Hickey wrote:
Certainly looks later than 1980 anyway. Here’s the link to the engineering/materials firm that built the Arnotts extention – it’s here that says 1980. Intersting bits and pieces of info about the job:
Must be 1990 (1980 must be a typo) if it says they were utilising the benefits of the 1986 Urban renewal act! (and I remember being in secondary school when it was being done!)
You must be right – we used to have to go a different way as kids to get to the annual Christmas Lego Exhibition in Arnotts before the dome came along – the highlight of the year 🙂
Christmas has never been the same since 🙁
Was passing early this morning and noticed something that may be of interest. Inside, the trademark cast iron pillars which presumably are Victorian, extend out beyond the original facade and into the 60s section.
How far I’m not totally sure – went in to have a look and braved a totally empty teenage girl store with suspicious staff eying every move 😮
It seems the columns only extend as far as a couple of bays into the 60s part, maybe a 1/4 or so – perhaps the width of the terminating pavilion?The pillars could be repros but it seems unlikely as they only extend a small part into the new building when they could have gone the whole way if desired.
Does nobody have a pic of Henry St from the 50s – surely someone has one!Hmmmm thats interesting about the columns…
Found a nice photograph I have of the exterior
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/henry_street/arnotts3_lge.html
and this one just about shows the join
Arnotts have placed displays of some of their higher end ranges in the windows of the former Irish Independent offices on Middle Abbey St, I presume that this is a prelude to a much more intensive use of the building. :p
@Thomond Park wrote:
Arnotts have placed displays of some of their higher end ranges in the windows of the former Irish Independent offices on Middle Abbey St, I presume that this is a prelude to a much more intensive use of the building. :p
What is so damn interesting about a larger department store?
I really think what they did to the old Adelphi was insulting.
Do they just zoom in and out across the tracks?
Ps, this is a reply to Grahams post about the cars going in and out of the car park. For some reason it came up as though I had posted it before Grahams post! Hopefully this editing will sort it out!
28/12/2005
Not to ‘compete’ with the other current Arnotts thread, but as it reminded me, it’s only logical I post here to in some way bring closure to this long-running saga 🙂
I can now confirm for definite, as was suggested earlier by some, that this is what what built at the turn of the last century:
A central tower flanked by two smaller terminating pavillions.
The IAA has a picture of Henry St prior to 1916 clearly showing the building above in all its glory, with the now-demolished right-hand tower standing in the distance.
The vast building as depicted on the bag, as everyone knew, never existed.It also explains why there are still interior decorative cast iron columns continuing into the 1960s part – as far a I can make out they run precisely to the depth that the terminating tower and extra bays would have extended to. Clearly they were demolished to make way for what is a mere curtain wall 🙁
Didn’t have time to check out the original ‘bag plans’ for the building – work for another day.
Only then will the Arnotts Mystery be truly solved…….@Graham Hickey wrote:
I can now confirm for definite, as was suggested earlier by some, that this is what what built at the turn of the last century:
A central tower flanked by two smaller terminating pavillions.
The IAA has a picture of Henry St prior to 1916 clearly showing the building above in all its glory, with the now-demolished right-hand tower standing in the distance.
Are you sure Graham? I presume this is the photo you refer to (below), which you posted in the other thread. I can see something which might be the domed roof of the now-demolished tower … but then again it mightn’t …
The possibility was suggested earlier in the thread that the western tower could have been demolished at the time the ’60s curtain wall bit was built. The picture above (from Lost Dublin) is a view from the top of the pillar in probably the ’30s or ’40s (certainly before the ’60s bit was built). The western tower does not appear to be present – at least there’s no sign of its domed roof, and I think it would be visible from this point, all things considered. (What might appear at first glance to be the top its domed roof is actually just one of four finials at the base of the central tower’s roof.)
I’m still not satisfied the west tower was ever built – arrgh!!
Other thread here: https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?p=44335#post44335
You’re making me uneasy now! 😀
I deliberately checked in the IAA for this very purpose, and the only photograph they had of Henry St as I recall was that of the street similar to that above but taken from street level and possibly a little more to the right – clearly showing the western tower. The ‘steeple’ as it were may not have been visible, can’t remember, but the shaft/main body of the tower was.
Really ought to get a photocopy of the picture to sort this one out for good.
Is this not it here?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
