Dublin’s Ugliest Building

….and as I think about government buildings, how about the Revenue Commissioners office block bang in the middle of Dublin Castle ? – the first building that tourists see when they visit the Castle

The Arnott’s development on Abbey St. It dominates the historic if mutilated street, and destoys the old Lighthouse cinema. For good measure I would also throw in throw in the Royal Dublin Hotel at the top of O Connell St. It is just asking to be put down.

I agree with Paul F. I’m surprised no one mentioned it before. Perhaps it is too ugly to even speak of but O’ Connell bridge House is an abomination. The architect should be horse-whipped publically.

Although the likes of Hawkins House and O’Connell Bridge house are unrelentingly awful, I find myself more incensed by more recently built stuff, such as the Woodchester building opposite Christchurch, or that Statoil garage on the Quays. Some of these buildings should be entered in evidence in the Flood tribunal to prove that planning in Ireland is corrupt – or at least inept.

Somebody recently built a new warehouse on my street (Bow Lane in Kilmainham) which boggles the mind with its blandness and unsuitability for the site. It consists of a four story high blank wall, which stretches for about a hundred metres, directly facing the blank wall of St Patrick’s hospital.

What is the explanation: corruption? drugs? sheer stupidity?

If anyone is familiar with the building I’ve desribed, I’d love to hear other peoples opinions on it.

I’ve seen that warehouse on Bow Lane, and the answer to Ryano’s question must be ‘drugs’ (acid? allowing people to see complex and beautiful shapes in the blandest of objects?). But the apartments near by going up towards IMMA are really bad (classic Dublin apartment building: tacky fake Victorian, ugly, look about to fall down).

Let’s face it, was there anything shovelled into place during the precast concrete eras of the late 50’s-80’s that wasn’t horrendous?
There are honestly so many peurile modernist abominations in dublin that an ugliest building survey is somewhat of a waste. Why not just categorise by type or location? Shovel the whole of mount street and its ilk into one category, Liberty Hall/Busarse into another, Stephen’s Green South and the like into a third, and leave the rest named as Hawkins House.

At least of late dublin has been fortunate enough to have good buildings foolishly put in poor situations, where at least you have the comfort that they’d look good _somewhere_. A lesser evil, and some sign of progress.

Sorry if I’m coming in late on this, but I only found the forum today. Many of the buildings mentioned are clearly hideous, inappropriate or simply thrown up with so little thought for their form or function. It seems obvious that anyone with enough basic common sense to cross the street unaided could see how bad these buildings are.

So, how did they get built in the first place? I like the idea of referring examples of poor architecture to the Flood tribunal. Since any competant lawyer could argue that taste is subjective, mere ugliness would not suffice. Inappropriate location might be better.

That would cover the broken teeth on Harcourt Road, or what about that elegant finial that closes off the leafy vista of Eglinton Road by finishing a line of 2-story semi-detached houses with an 8-story pile of brown sh…er, brick.

Perhaps we could have a competition to guess the total paid in bribes to achieve planning permission for various buildings?

The US Embassy??? You must be joking – I think its great!

In the spirit of categorisation, I feel P&T/ Telecom Eireinn should have a section all of their own. The main switch exchange on Wicklow St (D.2) shows an almost comical lack of context. Best viewed from the roof of one of our many fine multistorey car parks (why are they the only ‘public’ places offering a half decent rooftop vista?). The lack of scale sensibility is beyond belief. The multicoloured plastic cladding panels on the upper ‘box’ must be taking the mickey. The final crowning of an off centre radio mast strewn with various techno flotsam adds to the viewer’s mounting disbelief.

TE have many other fine structures on their books — there is a particularly uninviting little number on Fleet St. / Temple Bar –totally out of context, utterly repellant, and set off the terrace line of the street for added offensiveness.

Any other choice TE examples you can think of?

Maybe Liberty Hall combined with the massive
chunk of metal spanning the Liffey, known as the Loop-line.
It looks like our city developers have not learned and continue to lack common sense.