belfast skyline
- This topic has 58 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 2 months ago by thebig C.
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October 18, 2005 at 4:23 pm #708441AnonymousParticipant
how is obel doing these days? has it started yet? i kinda like it.
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February 17, 2006 at 6:51 pm #767156PepsiParticipant
I was told today that the 29 storey Obel Tower in Belfast City is currently under construction. Is this true? I know it’s not Dublin but I don’t want to create a whole new Belfast thread just to ask one question.
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February 17, 2006 at 6:57 pm #767157
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February 17, 2006 at 7:13 pm #767158GregFParticipant
looks as if the Obel building is going ahead in Belfeirste
http://friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/papers/article.php?sid=8519&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
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February 17, 2006 at 7:16 pm #767159PepsiParticipant
I really like Obel and I am glad to see it going ahead for real.
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February 17, 2006 at 7:20 pm #767160PepsiParticipant
I know that last article says that it will be 26 storeys but I heard it is actually 29.
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March 3, 2006 at 2:22 pm #767161PepsiParticipant
Does anybody have any pictures showing Obel’s progress to date?
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March 3, 2006 at 3:02 pm #767162
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March 3, 2006 at 3:03 pm #767163AnonymousParticipant
It is quite attractive in a speculative sort of way
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March 3, 2006 at 3:12 pm #767164MaskhadovParticipant
its just a pity its up the north.
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March 3, 2006 at 8:43 pm #767165PepsiParticipant
@Maskhadov wrote:
its just a pity its up the north.
I agree fully. A building like that it Dublin would be nice. That height is fine by me. I heard that it is actually 29 storeys and not 26 as advertised. I am curious as to what stage it is at right now?
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September 17, 2006 at 10:21 pm #767166PepsiParticipant
has anyone an update on what is happening with obel? i would love to see some images if it’s under construction.
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June 23, 2008 at 6:31 pm #767167cgcsbParticipant
A very interesting developement in Belfast
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June 24, 2008 at 1:57 pm #767168Paul ClerkinKeymaster
Foundations set for city tower
Above-ground work on what will be Belfast’s tallest building has got under way. The £75m 28 storey Obel tower, will tower over Donegall Quay when completed in two years time. The development by Karl Properties has been described as an obelisk set in old Belfast. Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie said the 88.31m high building “will undoubtedly become an iconic landmark for Belfast”.
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June 24, 2008 at 4:41 pm #767169MorlanParticipant
So, it looks like Belfast will hold the title for the first highrise in Ireland.. or will it be the Watch Tower? My money’s on Belfast.
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June 24, 2008 at 5:01 pm #767170AnonymousInactive
what are you people blind?
that is the most banal piece of commercial drivel this side of ohio.
when will people get over these plastic-mullioned glass behemoths dolled up with smatterings of stone clad planar language thrown around the facade. i really wonder sometimes.
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June 24, 2008 at 5:39 pm #767171johnglasParticipant
what?: what! You mean the emperor has no clothes?
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November 8, 2008 at 3:43 pm #767172rob mcParticipant
I think is great,hopefully it will give Dublin a kick up the ass to get the watchtower started!!
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November 13, 2008 at 12:53 pm #767173RhoikosParticipant
Hello from Belfast,
snapped this pic of part of the Obel site a few weeks ago. Its moving on pretty fast now. -
November 13, 2008 at 3:14 pm #767174cgcsbParticipant
The Watch Tower, the few new buildings in Grand Canal Dock and the Tara Street thing are pretty much our last chances to not be made a show of by our neighbours to the north. I hope the Dublin projects will not dissapear into obscurity like the U2 tower did.
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November 13, 2008 at 3:23 pm #767175AnonymousInactive
@cgcsb wrote:
The Watch Tower, the few new buildings in Grand Canal Dock and the Tara Street thing are pretty much our last chances to not be made a show of by our neighbours to the north. I hope the Dublin projects will not dissapear into obscurity like the U2 tower did.
I opened this thread thinking that it might be a relief from much of the ‘I want my city to have highrise so that we can then conclude it is a better place than another city’ mentality that presently dominates many of the Dublin threads. Unfortunately I am mistaken.
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November 13, 2008 at 4:03 pm #767176rob mcParticipant
@phil wrote:
I opened this thread thinking that it might be a relief from much of the ‘I want my city to have highrise so that we can then conclude it is a better place than another city’ mentality that presently dominates many of the Dublin threads. Unfortunately I am mistaken.
Well said!!Unfortunately if you like architecture and your from Dublin, its a disease!!People are just very frustrated at the DDA’s incompetence
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November 13, 2008 at 6:45 pm #767177johnny21Participant
Im jealous of belfasts skyline, at least the city is moving ahead with highrise compared to others.
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February 28, 2009 at 11:00 pm #767178rob mcParticipant
Wow, i never realised Belfast had so many interesting developments going on at the moment, just found this pics.
Obel Tower:
The Boat:
The Arc:
Lanyan Towers:
The soloist:
I must admit i’m extremely jelious :):)
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March 18, 2009 at 6:13 pm #767179MaxwigganParticipant
this is nice especialy the little yellow panels
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March 29, 2009 at 5:41 pm #767180MaxwigganParticipant
sunny day
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March 29, 2009 at 6:38 pm #767181MaxwigganParticipant
a selection of belfast buildings and a look at the skyline
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March 29, 2009 at 9:55 pm #767182johnglasParticipant
God, the 70s and 80s were even more brutal in Belfast than I thought! Not brutalist, just brutal.
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March 30, 2009 at 12:19 pm #767183MaxwigganParticipant
Yeah there are some major crimes on display here to enjoy it you have to wait until it rains and gets dark then you can pretend you are in bladerunner Los Angeles or Gotham City but you need a good imagination! 🙂
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March 30, 2009 at 7:36 pm #767184johnglasParticipant
maxwiggan: I come from Glasgow – you don’t need to tell me!
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April 9, 2009 at 2:17 pm #767185MaxwigganParticipant
north street
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April 14, 2009 at 2:22 pm #767186thebig CParticipant
Hey
Does anybody know what year Windsor House was built and who built it? I can never find that info. Actually, for the tallest building on this Island there is very little known about Windsor House!
C
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April 14, 2009 at 2:54 pm #767187cgcsbParticipant
Windsor house is now the second tallest building on the island after Elysian, Cork. I notice that Belfast didn’t get as much benefit from the boom as cities in the Republic did. There’s still a large amount of surface car parks in the city centre and aside from the kremlin, Donegal street is empty and very poorly illuminated at night. Also alot of the street paving, pedestrian crossings and street lights are very 80’s in their design. Almost retro
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April 14, 2009 at 6:45 pm #767188thebig CParticipant
🙂 @cgcsb wrote:
Windsor house is now the second tallest building on the island after Elysian, Cork. I notice that Belfast didn’t get as much benefit from the boom as cities in the Republic did. There’s still a large amount of surface car parks in the city centre and aside from the kremlin, Donegal street is empty and very poorly illuminated at night. Also alot of the street paving, pedestrian crossings and street lights are very 80’s in their design. Almost retro
🙂 I think Elysian is 71m to the roof. The Spire brings it to 81:)…..can we count those???
C
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April 14, 2009 at 6:53 pm #767189cgcsbParticipant
I thought the spire was always counted, is it not?
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April 17, 2009 at 1:32 pm #767190MaxwigganParticipant
Some recent twilight shots.
interesting to see how the introduction of these two vertical elements will impact the surrounding area
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April 17, 2009 at 8:23 pm #767191rob mcParticipant
Whats the other building to the left of the picture?Is that part of the obel development or is it something else?
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April 18, 2009 at 1:04 am #767192MaxwigganParticipant
thobel consists of the tower element and a 5 or 6 floor lowrise the building in the left background with the red neon and reflecto glass is the royal mail building further along to the left, set back from the quay is the new ” Boat” development.
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April 18, 2009 at 12:35 pm #767193thebig CParticipant
@cgcsb wrote:
I thought the spire was always counted, is it not?
I was always under the impression that buildings (for the purpose of tallest) were counted to roof height. Now I know the famous stories regarding the Spire on the Chrysler Building being kept secret until the last minute, so it could capture the Worlds tallest building title. On the other hand, I have seen many instances when Spires and even television towers are regarded as structures rather then buildings:)
Anyway, I am going off topic…….back to my question…..does anyone know when WindsorHouse was built and by whom?? I just can’t find this info anywhere:))
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April 21, 2009 at 10:33 am #767194MaxwigganParticipant
If you are going to include Ariels and masts then this is the tallest structure in Ireland
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April 25, 2009 at 11:47 am #767195johnglasParticipant
…Ariels and masts…
God, I didn’t know there were fairies on the tops of highrises!
You can forget looking at the bottom of the garden, then… -
May 1, 2009 at 10:57 am #767196MaxwigganParticipant
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8025036.stm
bbc article on changing cityscapes in the uk.
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October 21, 2009 at 5:08 pm #767197RhoikosParticipant
There is a class painting in the Royal Ulster Academy of the Arc.
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January 13, 2010 at 12:14 pm #767198RhoikosParticipant
Dunno about those coloured squares on the Boat
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May 28, 2010 at 12:26 pm #767199GregFParticipant
Belfast is the dreariest city in the UK. The photos above prove it!
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May 31, 2010 at 3:38 pm #767200wearnicehatsParticipant
Belfast used to be a very attractive city. Unfortunately little or nothing of it was left standing after WWII. How lucky for Dublin that they opted out of that one.
You’ll also find that many buildings built up until the Good Friday agreement tended, for some reason, to take on a rather “defensive” design approach
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May 31, 2010 at 6:14 pm #767201AnonymousParticipant
Victoria Square is a very good addition to Belfast; the dome is an amazing place from which to view Cave Hill and the bay. Sadly other than Victoria Square which has completely dominated prime retail (and has enough void space to satisfy all high end demand for another 5 years); the opportunity to build high quality buildings is curtailed by the rental levels acheivable by developers. Until such time as top graduates remain in the city the capacity for outstanding buildings beyond the odd civic commission or if tourist driven leisure continues to grow; is sadly limited. 😮
A real pity as Victorian Belfast was a real treasure; less call centres more fund management….
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June 1, 2010 at 4:12 pm #767202cgcsbParticipant
Victoria square destroyed more than 1/4 of Belfast’s surviving georgian stock. Although for some that was a positive thing. Victoria Sq. is very impressive though, and I just wish ABP wasn’t so uptight about the Dublin Central scheme, the proposed skypark would have been just as interesting as viccy’s dome.
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June 2, 2010 at 9:37 am #767203thebig CParticipant
@cgcsb wrote:
Victoria square destroyed more than 1/4 of Belfast’s surviving georgian stock. Although for some that was a positive thing. Victoria Sq. is very impressive though, and I just wish ABP wasn’t so uptight about the Dublin Central scheme, the proposed skypark would have been just as interesting as viccy’s dome.
Really? I do remember that there was controversy that one of Belfasts oldest pubs was demolished/closed to make way for it but I thought that the only large scale demolishion involved Churchill House, a 1960s slab?
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June 2, 2010 at 12:38 pm #767204cgcsbParticipant
@thebig C wrote:
Really? I do remember that there was controversy that one of Belfasts oldest pubs was demolished/closed to make way for it but I thought that the only large scale demolishion involved Churchill House, a 1960s slab?
there was a good bit of decaying georgian housing, in fairness I suppose it was only fit for demolition. A similar pub opened just outside victoria square in a classic building, not sure if it’s different owners though. The kitchen bar I believe it’s called.
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June 8, 2010 at 2:31 am #767205Global CitizenParticipant
Some views from the dome in Victoria Square…………
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June 8, 2010 at 5:30 pm #767206rob mcParticipant
Is that the Obel in the last picture?? Looks pretty ugly from that angle!
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June 9, 2010 at 12:17 am #767207Global CitizenParticipant
@rob mc wrote:
Is that the Obel in the last picture?? Looks pretty ugly from that angle!
Yes, thats the Obel in the last two pictures above and i agree that it looks less than flattering from here. It appears to turn its back on the city centre. Here is another view of it taken from the Short Strand area across the river. Showing its better side imo.
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June 9, 2010 at 7:36 am #767208AnonymousParticipant
It will look better from the front; this is a very good example of why it is important for planners to request montages from a variety of angles placing any proposed building into context. That said I’d not criticise it for being anything other than a little plain from the back; it is not like the fenestrations or building materials are ugly; maybe it was part of a plan to mass a few surrounding blocks to create a design of blocks; taking Canary Wharf as an example it looks good as a mass of buildings but a lot of the individual blocks are very simple shapes that individually would not work as well as in concert.
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June 9, 2010 at 1:37 pm #767209DesmundParticipant
I was in Belfast two weeks ago. Eventhough its core centre is considerably smaller then that of Dublin’s, the westmoreland st/ o connell bridge axis aside, it had I felt much more of a big city feel to it than its southern counterpart. Dublin due to its lowrise nature and big (in comparison to Belfast’s) centre, feels like an enourmous town and Belfast’s relevatively small core and plethora of tall buildings, just about slips into (small) big city status.
And before anyone starts going “here we go again, high rise v lowrise etc blah blah; it isn’t a rant on that subject. It’s just an observation OK? 🙂
I also think that the city hall is one the finest examples of Edwardian architecture I’ve ever seen. Very imposing and impressive. Imposing can be a good thing too! It’s a pity they moved to wheel. I would have liked to have a go on that!
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June 10, 2010 at 5:14 pm #767210gunterParticipant
@Desmund wrote:
. . . . Belfast’s relevatively small core and plethora of tall buildings, just about slips into (small) big city status.
I also think that the city hall is one the finest examples of Edwardian architecture I’ve ever seen. Very imposing and impressive. Imposing can be a good thing too!
I would agree with Desmund, up to a point, but I think the best parts of Belfast are the three or four decent streets in the core where there’s still a Victorian/Edwardiam coherence, not the bits dominated by some pretty mediocre high rise blocks.
There was a slight ‘Temple Bar’ feel to some of the little streets around where the Victoria Square Centre was developed and that’s mostly gone now, but at least the new centre made a conscious effort to connect with Belfast’s great Victorian heritage and I think in that regard it’s been much more of an urban success than any of the random tower blocks I’ve seen.
I do think that the robust scale of the average Belfast streetscape meant that it was better placed to absorb some taller buildings than say Dublin, and I think some of the more modest [and better designed] of the taller structures, like that 60s block with the abstract muriel up at the Albert Clock, add to the urban quality of the place rather than take away from it.
a rough 1980s sketch of the space in front of the Albert Clock -
June 11, 2010 at 1:16 am #767211Global CitizenParticipant
@Desmund wrote:
I was in Belfast two weeks ago. Eventhough its core centre is considerably smaller then that of Dublin’s, the westmoreland st/ o connell bridge axis aside, it had I felt much more of a big city feel to it than its southern counterpart. Dublin due to its lowrise nature and big (in comparison to Belfast’s) centre, feels like an enourmous town and Belfast’s relevatively small core and plethora of tall buildings, just about slips into (small) big city status.
While its tempting to draw comparisons between the two biggest cites on the island for all sorts of reasons, street planning isn’t one of them.
Belfast is a child of the industrial revolution.
Dublin is a tired old granny by comparison. (Still feeding her errant grandchildren).A more suitable comparison to Belfast is Manchester.
Both places suffered damage during WW2 resulting in their grid layout.
As a regular visitor to Belfast and Manchester, I often have to check with myself briefly when I turn a street corner, to remind myself what city I’m in.Dublin and Belfast are very different towns.
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January 18, 2012 at 4:33 pm #767212SauchiehallParticipant
http://www.flickr.com/photos/releasethestars/2471805499/
Unusual view of part of the south Belfast skyline, looking west from Queen’s University. -
January 25, 2012 at 3:25 pm #767213thebig CParticipant
Thanks for that Sauchiehall:)
Indeed…a little seen perspective of the Belfast skyline! I would be too familar with Belfast, so its nice to get different views of the City…it all helps with the old mental picture:)
C
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