Eglinton Street Tower, Cork
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Would also be usefeul to lose the infantile “my city’s better than your city cos it’s got high rises” obsession.
well said browser and andrew p.
Also, just on the issue of adding extra floors to a high rise at a later date…is that really feasible and has it been done before in Ireland? I presume it would mean an extra 3 or 4 floors only or am I wrong. I guess the aesthetics may change somewhat. Certainly a good idea and it displays some degree of forward thinking.@corcaighboy wrote:
well said browser and andrew p.
Also, just on the issue of adding extra floors to a high rise at a later date…is that really feasible and has it been done before in Ireland? I presume it would mean an extra 3 or 4 floors only or am I wrong. I guess the aesthetics may change somewhat. Certainly a good idea and it displays some degree of forward thinking.Neither were high rise but relatively good jobs were done adding extra floors to a building off Kevin St in Dublin (on corner with Wexford St I think?) and onto the College of Commerce in Cork. I appreciate this is a different principle though.
@corcaighboy wrote:
…………… just on the issue of adding extra floors to a high rise at a later date…is that really feasible and has it been done before in Ireland? I presume it would mean an extra 3 or 4 floors only or am I wrong. I guess the aesthetics may change somewhat. Certainly a good idea and it displays some degree of forward thinking.
@browser wrote:
Neither were high rise but relatively good jobs were done adding extra floors to a building off Kevin St in Dublin (on corner with Wexford St I think?) and onto the College of Commerce in Cork. I appreciate this is a different principle though.
I thought I heard there were problems with the College of Commerce extension soon after?
Actually, looking at those shots of Eglington St. again made me curious, if the apartments in the tower are (supposedly) so large, does that mean each will take up an entire floor? If so, they’ll have superb panoramic views of the city.
@darkman wrote:
The 34 storey ‘Watchtower’ near the Point Depot is already under construction so when the lift shaft starts going up for that and thoughts of Belfast or Cork having the tallest building on the island will be consigned to the dustbin of history. What will be interesting is if this starts the ball rolling for more skyscrapers. I think once people see the U2 tower and watchtower going up they will probrably realise thsat skyscrapers can be attractive on the skyline and is one solution to endless sprawl which will be a combination of things. Highrise is certainly part of that.
i don’t think dublin’s watchtower is under construction yet. where did you hear that it is?
“Planning Approved
Full section 25 planning permission has been received for this existing development and construction has commenced” -www.pointvillage.ie
They even have a huge sign up outside the point saying elvis will open the place in 2009. Its 3 or 4 containers stacked on top of each other with the sign stuck to the front.I paid a visit to Belfast recently, and one really has the impression that Belfast is a larger city than Dublin.
How come Belfast has a much more interesting skyline than Dublin. Why is Dublin so bland compared to other cities of similar size such as Liverpool and Manchester (although Greater Manchester claims a population of 3.5 million)?probably because they have more taller buildings in belfast giving it the appearance of being larger. I agree though belfast does look bigger then dublin even glasgow looks a lot bigger and its simply because of the number of high rise buildings in both cities.
@tfarmer wrote:
I paid a visit to Belfast recently, and one really has the impression that Belfast is a larger city than Dublin.
How come Belfast has a much more interesting skyline than Dublin. Why is Dublin so bland compared to other cities of similar size such as Liverpool and Manchester (although Greater Manchester claims a population of 3.5 million)?probably because they have more taller buildings in belfast giving it the appearance of being larger. I agree though belfast does look bigger then dublin even glasgow looks a lot bigger and its simply because of the number of high rise buildings in both cities.
Belfast doesn’t seem larger. It is a Victorian city – it is bulkier alright. But it ‘feels’ smaller to me every time I go. Less busy, fewer people, slower pace.
@tfarmer wrote:
I paid a visit to Belfast recently, and one really has the impression that Belfast is a larger city than Dublin.
How come Belfast has a much more interesting skyline than Dublin. Why is Dublin so bland compared to other cities of similar size such as Liverpool and Manchester (although Greater Manchester claims a population of 3.5 million)?probably because they have more taller buildings in belfast giving it the appearance of being larger. I agree though belfast does look bigger then dublin even glasgow looks a lot bigger and its simply because of the number of high rise buildings in both cities.
Why is this being discussed again?
I don’t really understand the ‘my city looks bigger than your city’ stuff that goes on here.
None of Ireland’s city centres are particularly overwhelming. Dublin’s core is essentially a small Georgian city with victorian and edwardian bits added on sorrounded by lots of post 1960s sprawl. As an administrative centre, it has a collection of rather more grandeous buildings than those found elsewhere.
Belfast’s a small, relatively unspectacular victorian industrial city (not saying that’s a bad thing) with lots of urban sprawl.
Cork’s a small slightly more quirky maratime/commerical somewhat georgian city with victiorian institutional, commerical and industrial add-ons and somewhat less urban sprawl.
Limerick, Derry, Galway are extremely small cities with the odd interesting bit of architecture and small scale post 60s sprawl. Their cores are nice, but really not much more extensive than a town.
Anything else is just a big town really.
As for Northern English cities, they’re all rather unspecatcular and small city centrewise too. Many being more highrise than Dublin because there wasn’t a whole lot there to start with, they were largely just industrial centres that were often quite grim. Also, WWII didn’t help much as they lost a lot of buildings to the blitz.
As for Dublin, the Loop Line bridge actually makes the city feel a lot smaller than it is, by isolating the old city centre from the customs house and the whole docklands / IFSC development as well as blocking the view of the harbour and Dublin bay.
It’s really as ugly as one of the ‘green monsters’ in Boston. Shame really it’s not re-routable.
Cork’s Docklands project should be a lot more connected to the City as there isn’t that same “City Centre” vs “Quays” vs “Docks” divide.
The South Mall basically leads straight into the edge of the Docklands. It should have a nice feel when it’s finished!
Even the first parts of the development i.e. new stuff along Lapps Quay is very accessible from the city centre. It doesn’t feel isolated or cut off.Where as in Dublin the IFSC is very cut off, you wouldn’t really feel like wandering down there on foot.
Smithfield is similar too, completely isolated from the city centre unless you jump in a Luas.
There’s also a very odd divide between the Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 shopping districts. i.e. Grafton Street and Henry Street.
O’Connell Street and O’Connell bridge completely sepeate them. It’s very odd, as you’d really expect there to be much more commercial and retail development on O’Connell street linking the two areas. Never quite understood why O’Connell Street hasn’t developed properly. Is it entirely down to heavy traffic ?Anyway – perhaps that’s best left to another thread.
I general though, Cork’s quite a well-integrated pedestrian friendly city by Irish standards and seems to be heading rapdily towards being a very pleasant space to wander around.
In my view the sales of the apartments in the Elysan (Eglinton Street) building will be an interesting barometer for the future prospects for residential development in the docklands. With the recent slowdown in the residential property market appearing to pick up pace it seems to me that in 6 months time no one will want to buy an apartment in the city as there will be thousands on the market. Compounding the problem will be the forthcoming changes in stamp duty legislation which will encourage first time buyers to buy their home for life as opposed to a starter home. Fact is most Irish people do not view apartments as homes for life.
I feel that the elysian will prove to be an expensive mistake that won’t sell at a price that will generate profits for its backers.
Having said that it is a landmark building in a great location for anyone working in town. Time will tell I suppose but I wonder are the developers saying rosaries for the health of the housing market given their large investment.
I think the tower apartments should sell well, considering their size, views, location and the novelty of the tower itself (all assuming they’re priced affordably!). The lower, 8 storey building I’d be less confident of.
In my view, a “home for life” is something like a 3/4 bed semi-d or detached. That will cost you anywhere from €400-800k in Cork. If you are a first time buyer who can afford that I’d like to meet you and see your wageslip….and there will not be thousands of apartments on the market, but I presume that’s just a little colourful hyperbole?
I agree with Who_Me.
From what I’ve read the apartment prices at the Elysian won’t be any cheaper than that Angry Rebel.
i truly believe that by the end of the year/early 2008 buy to let investors will be trying to offload their investments on the market left right and centre. So yes in my view there could be thousands of apartments on the market.by the time Eglinton street goes for sale.@corkdood wrote:
From what I’ve read the apartment prices at the Elysian won’t be any cheaper than that Angry Rebel.
i truly believe that by the end of the year/early 2008 buy to let investors will be trying to offload their investments on the market left right and centre. So yes in my view there could be thousands of apartments on the market.by the time Eglinton street goes for sale.Many people that I have spoken to over the past six months that would have been in the market for apartments are now thinking of going that extra bit to buy a stand alone house.
The main reasons are;
Management Company’s rip offs.
😮 30-45,000 euro per car parking space.
😮 Management fees going up from 1000pa euro in 2004, 2000pa euro in 2005, 3000pa euro in 2006 (2007 ??, June 25th will tell!!)
😮 No City Council parking permits to be issued to apartment dwellers whose apartments were built since 2004.
😡 Owner occupiers been unable to control management company’s until the entire complex is sold out (developers are holding onto 2-3 apartments to hold control of management Company’s)
In my opinion the proposed Government reform of the Management sector will come too late to save the market.Limerick, Derry, Galway are extremely small cities with the odd interesting bit of architecture and small scale post 60s sprawl. Their cores are nice, but really not much more extensive than a town.
sorry i have to disagree with you. Limerick has a city feel to it and looks like a city. If they extend the boundary of limerick city which is pathetically small to areas like castletroy which is now a large area in itself with a population of over 22,000 it would be considered a city even by international standards. I agree with you about derry and galway though.
remember cities are not defined cities solely because of population, or number of buildings in the cbd area. There are cities in the united states with populations of less then 20,000. As for limerick and galway not being much more extensive then a town….which towns are you talking about there because by irish standards even by international standards they are a lot more extensive then quite a few towns.
a city is defined as ‘ an urban settlement with a particularly important status which differentiates it from a town’
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