ILAC centre
- This topic has 153 replies, 48 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 4 months ago by
.
- Posts
@GrahamH wrote:
Saying all that, the centre is most afflicted by poor tenants – once this is resolved, and the central area finished, it may yet garner a bit of character.
Spot on
They have made a lot of progress by replacing Easons with H & M and extending Dunnes into the centre directly from Henry St. I do however agree that a lot of the fashion retailers in side are pure c**p and this really doesn’t help.
It is however encouraging that they are trying to take the asset forward in its current format and the centre is much better for the removal of that dreadful elevated cafe.
I’m sure that they are plotting and scheming further changes on an ongoing basis but fear that the retail mix will only move dramatically forward once the Carlton site is integrated into scheme.
Would you advise anyone to grant 20 year leases on the Moore Mall at passing rental levels with the Carlton scheme only a few years away?
@PVC King wrote:
It is however encouraging that they are trying to take the asset forward in its current format and the centre is much better for the removal of that dreadful elevated cafe.
I loved that restaurant as a kid! So futuristic to eat look over the rail at the shoppers far below!
I actually prefer the old ILAC to this reclad one. At least the old one was honest.
I have to say I sort of agree! Pre renovation it was pretty horrific but I did like the old quarry tiled floor and the simplicity of the big monopitch glazed roof. And at least there was SOMETHING in the central mall area – not the current big nothing. I actually find walking through the place quite unsettling – all that pristine white and grey contrasted with the utterly crap shop units in their shades of beige and brown…. I guess itll all change eventually but the new Arnotts scheme is surely going to pull the lions share of the more high-brow retailers that could bring the ILAC up to standard.
Oh on another note – the exterior of the H&M and main entrance area is looking so dated and shoddy already. What were they thinking?@murphaph wrote:
I loved that restaurant as a kid! So futuristic to eat look over the rail at the shoppers far below!
and the glass lifts ! felt like you were on your way to outer space 😀
(well in my head as an 8 year old anyway)Am i gone crazy or was there a big hot-air balloon suspended from the centre of the fountain?
I can sort of imagine it, but I don’t think it was still there when i started going to town by myself (circa 1996 or so)pretty sure there was, ascending & descending i think, yellow & red stripes spring to mind 🙂
Yep spot on :p
Oh how we yearn for Jonathan’s. 80’s chic truly at its most dazzling.
A fountain with coins completed the uber-sophisticated ensemble.The recent cleaning and general sprucing up of an 1918 facade opposite Dunnes has demonstrated what can be achieved with these delightfully whimsical buildings that don’t really take themselves seriously.
The trademark glowing orangey brick of the early 20th century gives a lovely warm glow. The sashes turned up great too.
With by-then established cement mortar (some dodgy repointing of which around the granite wasn’t removed alas). The granite is still lovely and crisp, not least as it’s all north facing.
With the gradual improvement of properties along Henry Street, the intrusion of Dunnes into what was an entirely intact early 20th century streetscape is becoming all the more regrettable.
Beautiful facades, which should teach some people a lesson about over-enthusiastic remodelling or even removal of early 20th C buildings. But what about those shopfronts?! Bland or what? Where is DCC’s design guide?
18/4/2009
Oh my god, so River Island has like, finally, like opened on Henry Street, yeah!
This is loike, so fantaaaastic. Gingham shirts, skinny jeans and hair straighteners at the ready guys! (diamante earring optional)
Finally this vacant unit has been filled (and more importantly all of that nasty advertising hoarding removed) and a new focus given to the junction of the three streets here. The Henry Street/Mary Street axis is now holding up well, with big (if universal) attractions distributed evenly along its length. All we need is that vertical band of crassness to the right removed and we’ll be getting somewhere. One suspects we shall be waiting.
The fit-out is of a good standard, typical of River Island (and miles above that of H&M), with a cavernous ground floor and a more modestly scaled first floor. The demands of what is now the theatre of retail has resulted in some clever uses of materials, notably lining the stairwell.
Sadly, however, this new facade to the Ilac remains the cheap, incoherent and unimaginative paper-thin commercial veil it always was. I cannot see it lasting even as long as the original Ilac did.
Yep. It’s notable actually how all of the international retailers are really the only ones with decent shop displays in Dublin. Even BT’s innovative displays (with fantastic lighting units at the minute incidentally) claim their origins from the firm’s international ownership. Arnotts make a good attempt, but their tounge-in-cheek approach never quite works in that 1960s host environment.
Could I just ramp up criticism of the Ilac facade a gear. It grossly offends me every time I pass. It’s not even a building – a cardboard cutout piece of urban infill trash. Absolute rubbish. The redundancy of the upper levels is particularly frustrating, while the choice of materials virtually across the board is cheap, tawdry and thoroughly disposable. It also makes no attempt to generate an ‘incident’ or sense of grand entrance on the streetscape. Shame on whoever threw it together.
The H&M curvy glass wall is nice. But the rest of the centre is a disgrace. It’s even tackier inside than it was before the refurbishment.
Hmmm, the overwhelming negative assessment of Ilac Mark 2 does not bode well for one’s hopes of what the adjacent Dublin Central scheme might amount to, which is after all being developed by the same developer Joe O’Reilly.
One thing I did note re Ilac, was that while the architecture may not amount to much, the redevelopment was a textbook case of site management – i.e. being able to keep the centre open while redevelopment was taking place.
We will continue to watch this space with interest…
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
