Has anyone a picture of the George’s Quay tower?
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Is the height of 60.8 meters (i.e., taller than liberty hall) the original height or the revised height?
There is such a ridiculous desire by the corporation to chop stories off buildings before granting permission. I suspect that if permission were sought for a 30 storey tower in the docks it would be granted eventually for a 28 storey one – even though the reduction in impact would be next to nothing. The central bank is an old example of the futility of this; it has a huge visual impact on its neighbourhood, and if it had been built to its original 180 feet instead of the 140-odd it is it would have had just the same impact, and probably would have looked better to boot.
Ahhhh the Central Bank…..
It also suffers from the odd position of being just above a “hill”, so it looks taller from the north than it does from the south. Oddly taller again if you look at it from the upper storey of another building.
But on a more serius note – let’s think perspective. The Tara Street project really looks quite big when viewed from the more “western” touristy areas (liffey, keys etc). Perhaps there’s an argument that buildings further down the docks could be built much much taller, using the “it doesn’t look that much bigger than the Tara Street Building” (because it’s farther away)….
Perspective – this is small, this is far away.
The new weapon against nasty planning people….fjp
I noticed that view this morning walking down the ramp from Connolly station. If Busaras were a bit cleaner that would make a nice postcard – “Modern Dublin Without Anything Really Ugly”. Unfortunately as soon as you turn the corner the Houses Hawkins and Apollo come into view, with Liberty Hall and the Irish Life centre (not as badly) spoiling the view to the right.
Poor auld Liberty Hall needs a make over……..it is a landmark for Dublin afterall. This area could look really well and ‘modern’……with the inclusion of the new Tara Street train station proposal…..a revamp for Liberty Hall and a contemporary re-modelling (Calatravesque) of the Loopline Bridge……….it would all look just wonderful!
Was up Liberty Hall today taking photos (over 300!!!). The Georges Quay Towers looked fantastic all the time, and I’ve really really taken to them at this stage. They’re just interesting from virtually all angles, and the night lights are a nice touch.
Liberty Hall is a little forlorn, but still very, very, very impressive. The main stairwell is a beauty, as are the little tiles on the roof. View is fantastic!!!! Sadly the observation deck is used for (wait for it) storage!!! Panoramic photos were taken from all angles covering the full 360, and the preliminaries look excellent.
Here are the towers!!!
fjp
Great shot FJP…….they are not really that bad
…..I think they are better than the SOM proposal and fit better in the space.Well done fjp – I look forward to the rest of the photos. Did you get any of the interior? Liberty Hall is one of my favorite Dublin buildings. Do you know why the observation deck is not used – seems like it could be a nice little earner.
fjp, lovely photos. Have you seen them from Alfie Byrne road, if you pick your spot they form a perfect pyramid and you have the hills in the background.
Very few interior Liberty shots I’m afraid. It’s a little bit tight inside, and some of it is just (narrow) corridor. The areas outside the elevators had nice wood floors, but generally it was too tight to really give a proper impression.
The observation deck closure was partially attributed to jumpers by our guide. Seems like it could be time to reconsider this idea, although I’m sure tourist traffic might punish the escalator waiting times a little. Beautiful view though.
Alfie Byrne Road will need some map examining, and I also want to have a look at that view from Connolly Station that was mentioned. Of course, I have to now photoshop and upload all the images taken yesterday, so it might be best I take it easy on the extra shots.
fjp
Your very good FJP to get into these places so as to take these snaps……It’s not as if the CIA is around etc….but buildings in Dublin should be made available more to the public…..especially those of a significant, considerable, height or function….well then again………there is a lack of them is’nt there……..and the DDDA has seen an end to that ………no more buildings of a considerable height in our capital city………….no such thing as a restaurent with splendid views of the cityscape etc…..and when you look at the joy and entertainment it has brought to people.
Part of the Spencer Dock plan that just got approved is a tower with a viewing gallery.
http://www.ddda.ie/uploads/pdfs/Overall%20Design.qx.pdf
Have a look at page 49:
“A tall building, up to a height of 100 metres … If exceeding the 60m minimum height it shall incorporate a public viewing area at the top floor”
Now 100m isn’t that tall, but the intention is pretty clear.
Does the tower with permission at John Rogersons Quay have a viewing deck?
I just remembered that the Tara Street Station proposal incorporates a restaurant floor, but I’m not sure where in the building, or if it survived the beheading it got when the height was reduced by two stories.
Alfie Byrne road goes from East Wall road to Clontarf prom, by one end of the port tunnel. It has a little memorial to Alfie Byrne at the Clontarf prom end and an awful wind sculture that hardly moves even in a gale, by, I think, the same guy as the floozy of late memory.
You’re dead right Greg. I was up Liberty with an assisting friend (running 12 optical zoom footage of the entire horizon) and we were far too excited for our own good. Available tall buildings: one of the things that I find most disappointing about the spike on O’Connell Street was that you can’t climb it. In a city where exposure to height is so rare, it would be great if the few buildings we have would really pander to it. People like being up high….
Wow, I’m having a bad grammar night….
Alfie Byrne road sadly sounds a little off my beaten track. I’m a no car person, which rules out a lot of nipping about. But’s it’s logged in my brain now, and I’m getting good at saying “hey let’s go down this road” to people I drive with.
fjp
There is a great view of these towers on Georges Quay from, of all places, the bridge over the DART line at Grand Canal Dock.
They appear quite bulky and sculptural in the distance. Sorry I have no pics but it would make a lovely Sunday afternoon stroll for somebody (else).
The smoked glass roofs – what’s that about? A hybrid between the original and resubmitted plans, maybe?The rooves appear to be a metal horizontal gridding over glass, though it’s hard to make out (looking at a high zoom 35mm photo).
I’m finding it a little hard to believe that so many people seem to like this (in my view) sad little cluster of towers. Is nobody bothered, for instance, by the view of them from the south across Trinity playing field?
I think the reason most people are so enthusiastic about them is becuase they’re one of the very few buildings that are actually noticable above the utter disaster that is the Dublin “skyline”. At the very least they’re a focal point, making a change from all the 5 storey rubbish that the planners in this country seem to think are so great.
I often think I’m missing something here – have tall buildings been declared evil by the supreme court or something? Why do the planners think 5 storey blandness is so much better? I can’t believe that they actually think that all these unnoticable 5 storey boxes are better than something that would actually stand out and be something to look at.
I take the point about the need for more distinction on the Dublin skyline. I certainly agree with Blain about the numbing awfulness of the 5-storey box syndrome, and with others in this thread about the idiocy of lopping a few floors off tall building proposals just for the sake of it.
I’m glad the banal SOM scheme here was not built, but then that let in this project (which is older, isn’t it?). I suppose my dislike of the George’s Quay buildings is that they seem to be in a 1980s sub-Cesar Pelli timewarp. Not absolutely awful, but not quite the real thing, and not quite 21st century either.
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