Galway Cinema

Has any1 seen that new high rise development thats after springing up on the tuam road its only about 8 storeys but it really sticks out from the other building which are 2 and 3 storeys max. i think its called the crescent court.

Loveley photos of the cinema there and I must say I really like the idea behind it and a lot of the individual architectural flourishes. Unfortunately the overall composition, taking in the hotel frontage and the cinema (as seen from Lough Atalia Rd. and further back at the railway) is a total and utter mess – too many things happening, a really awkward junction between the hotel and the Cinema and a very badly handled roofscape with all sorts of services popping up over the copper edging.

The view as approached from the Dublin Road is even worse, revealing acres of blank panelled wall topped by a huge rendered box that crashes unceremoniously into and completely dwarfs one of the (fantastic) copper sheathed cinema forms.

The hotel should be interesting, however I do question the wisdom of a 5 star hotel literally wedged between the busiest arterial road in Galway on one side and a fairly cheap and cheerful retail park on the other… Apparently a lot of the rooms overlook internal “zen” courtyards which could be very nice. However I’d be a very disappointed guest if I was shoved into one of the rooms directly overlooking the cinema carpark and “Smyths Toys”.

Sorry for being so critical but it really is disappointing that a good initial concept and a design with great flair has been forced into lots of compromises that really detract from the finished product.