Gilbert Library Extension

is that a trick question? DCC i thought. but did the DCC architects dept. just coordinate the whole thing and somebody else designed the extension?

Is this the one?

Reopening of the Newly Redeveloped Pearse Street Library

The Lord Mayor, Councillor Dermot Lacey today officially opened the refurbished and extended Dublin City Library & Archive on Pearse Street,
which includes a new public library. Dublin City Council has spent the last two years restoring the historic sandstone and limestone façade and the interior of the 1909 building and extending it. …

….The refurbished and extended Dublin City Library & Archive was designed in-house by the City Architect’s department, to a brief prepared by the City Libraries and Archives management team. Funding of €9 million euro came from Dublin City Council and the Department of the Environment & Local Government. The refurbishment maintained the architectural integrity of the original intact main building and matched appropriate uses to these spaces, while redeveloping the remaining rear section to cater for the more functionally demanding uses.

According to Bernard Grimes, Architects Department, Dublin City Council, the combination of restoration and new build, each clearly defined, complementing and contrasting one to the other is felt to have provided the optimum solution to the complex requirements of brief and site. “It retains, conserves and reinstates the principal historical and architectural features, secures their future and celebrates their unique value, making them accessible to the public, while providing modern, efficient repository systems and research facilities and a fitting Headquarters for the City’s Library Service”, he says.”

http://www.dublincity.ie

gawd, that looks hideous

It looks nicer than that photo show in real life, but I have not been inside yet. Anyone know what that is like?

Inside looks really smart – some lovely fossils in the entrance hall floor and the reading room upstairs looks great. Main library downstairs is kinda curious – about 30 computer stations along one wall but a really rubbish selection of books..

It looks bizzare from Pearse Station, like a London Eye capsule floating over the city!
The old section is beautifully restored, looks especially good at night when the plastered ceilings are lit up in white and can be seen through the big windows from the street.

its abit strange outside
but inside its gorgeous, downstairs and stari reading room done in white plaster…
the part with the window is cafe i think

its surprising to go down the street which is extremly dowdy and then see this huge grand yellow building

hey…………………if yer given a new compass for Christmas, well you may as well use it.

Nice chimneys.

They’re lovely aren’t they – the best part of the building!
Unfortunately we’re not exactly renowned for our feature chimneys over here.

The best way to see it is in the evening when the light is on the front but the new interior is glowing out – looks grat and is a wonderful addition to the street.

THe rear though looks to me kind of sub-Alsop – a bit like Tottenham Hale station or the like – pointless squashed toiled roll shapes.

The curves also really need large scale to stop the detailing looking very clunky. Works on the Big Blue in France, but not on a 3-4 storey extension.