Irelands most expensive building
- This topic has 19 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 21 years, 10 months ago by
GrahamH.
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April 12, 2003 at 3:44 pm #706145
Aken
ParticipantAny ideas what is the most expensive building in ireland. Either by price paid in sale or price paid for construction
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April 12, 2003 at 9:07 pm #725783
Paul Clerkin
KeymasterBusaras…. 1 milllon plus in 1953
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April 14, 2003 at 9:32 am #725784
Andrew Duffy
ParticipantArdnacrusha electrical generating station was completed in 1929 at a cost of £5.5m. I’m not sure if it counts as a building, though.
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April 14, 2003 at 9:41 am #725785
Paul Clerkin
KeymasterThat includes building the headrace etc?
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April 14, 2003 at 10:04 am #725786
shadow
ParticipantIt is normal for the AJ to publish rates for the buildings that are published in that journal, including the subcontracts, insurances etc. The final database provides a comparable case by case basis for buildings, executed by all sorts of different architects. A similar exercise would be most useful. I for one would like to know how much each of the buildings in Temple Bar cost, even if on a per sq metre basis.
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April 14, 2003 at 10:24 am #725787
MG
ParticipantHow much is 1 million punts circa 1953 in todays money?
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April 14, 2003 at 12:12 pm #725788
Andrew Duffy
Participant@Paul – It was the total cost of the project. To put it in perspective, Ardnacrusha cost one-fifth of the state’s budget in 1925, equivalent to a project costing €20-€25 billion today.
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April 14, 2003 at 12:19 pm #725789
Andrew Duffy
ParticipantThis is useful:
http://www.eh.net/ehresources/howmuch/poundq.php
It would imply that Busaras cost about equivalent to £15-£20 million today.
The Citicorp building cost €100 million (according to the builders Pierse), making it a good candidate for Ireland’s most expensive.
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April 14, 2003 at 7:11 pm #725790
Aken
ParticipantIts nice to know that in backward peat burning spud eating ireland we could spend so much on a building like Busaras. And it still looks great today and is my favourite building in the city save none!
25 billion today for Ardnacrusha, WOW! Who was the guy who designed it, He was a young engineer if i remember correctly. -
April 15, 2003 at 10:01 am #725791
Andrew Duffy
ParticipantOops – I made a mistake, it was 20% of budget, not GDP, so it would be equivalent to a project costing about €7-€8bn today. Of course, the government budget has increased at a faster rate than inflation since 1922. In terms of today’s purchasing power, £5.5m in 1922 is equivalent to about €250m today.
However, Moneypoint power station kicks the arse of all the buildings mentioned:
http://www.esb.ie/main/about_esb/power_stations.jsp
“It was constructed at a cost of more than £700m, in one of the largest capital projects in the history of the Irish State.”
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April 15, 2003 at 10:17 am #725792
Andrew Duffy
ParticipantThis is fun!
I’m pretty sure the most expensive total investment in a building in Ireland is Intel’s Fab 24 in Leixlip. From http://www.intel.com/community/ireland/aboutsite.htm:
“Work is underway on Irelands new semi-conductor wafer production facility, Fab 24. The $2 billion (€1.85 billion) investment programme will see the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs at the Leixlip site.”
I’m still guessing Citicorp is the most expensive normal building, but that if the cost of building the stately homes like Castletown House were known (rather than the cost of buying the building itself) some of them would be more expensive in today’s terms.
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April 15, 2003 at 2:22 pm #725793
d_d_dallas
ParticipantHow about Charlie’s gaff?
Although that’s just taking the furnishings into account – he has expensive tastes!
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April 15, 2003 at 7:51 pm #725794
GrahamH
ParticipantGovernment Buildings?
It cost £16 million to refurbish in the late 80s/early 90s, including exterior cleaning, floodlighting and major internal alterations and furnishing.
Interestingly, Busaras cost a mere £250,000 to build the structure, but the remaining £750,000 was spent purely on interior decoration, finishing and furnishing, an exorbitant sum at the time.
Needless to say, the quality finish payed off, as is evident from it’s condition today. The Portland stone cladding imported from Dorset may have been a contributing factor…Bank of Ireland’s HQs Meisian tribute I belive was the most expensive office building ever built in the country at the time of its construction, indeed so much bronze was used in its cladding that it affected world metal prices!
Now thats something. -
April 16, 2003 at 10:20 am #725795
urbanisto
ParticipantI think dallas meant Abbeyfield in Kinsealy maybe.
Have been reading this thread with interest and wondering how you can value buildings which span such a large time period. Perhaps buildings such as the Four Courts and Sublin Castle cost exhorbitant amounts when built.
As for the Busaras tale …. its interesting to hear how much was pent on the interiors. I wonder how well they have weathered over the years. I remember a thread a few months back when Paul said he tried to get access to office areas but was denied. Judging by the condition of the ticket hall I cant imagine the insides looking too good.
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April 16, 2003 at 11:14 am #725796
d_d_dallas
ParticipantYes – I did. Good to have a translator on hand!
I imagine buildings of the Four Courts ilk would probably be considered the most expensive as they would have been built in times when the wealth was disproportionately spent and represented. Any project of a Versailles-esque nature.
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April 17, 2003 at 7:18 pm #725797
GrahamH
ParticipantI have read figures of £250,000 & £400,000 for the Custom House, I don’t know which to belive, although the £400,000 comes from more reliable sources and is quoted most often.
If only I knew how much a Georgian £1000 is worth today, we could rub our hands in glee at the folly that it is, and the true glutony of John Beresford. -
April 20, 2003 at 10:55 pm #725798
Aken
ParticipantWhat about value for money in relation to price and the buildings contribution to its surrounding area in a design context. Looking at the Citicorp/Citibank (whatever there called) 100 million doesntget you much in the way of outstanding design. It looks ok and i’m sure it works well but it doesnt have me walking into lamp posts
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April 22, 2003 at 11:30 am #725799
d_d_dallas
Participant100 milion for that place? Not sure where exactly it was spent! Although being Citibank it’s not like them to not have flashy expensive premises – the outside may be dull – but somehow I’d say the offices inside are pretty lush.
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April 22, 2003 at 1:06 pm #725800
GregF
ParticipantSure wait till the National Conference Centre is built ……..but that’s if it is ever built. I’ll bet it will be the most expensive building in the world ever, and willl look nothing …..especiallly if it is built with taxpayers money…..Shrewd fiscal policy and careful money management will send the price of this structure through the roof so as to make the ‘Fat Cats’ ……aka ‘ROBBERS’ …and ‘brown envelop culture’ a lot more wealthier……Sure the poor wealthy c**nts need the money too so as to stufff their matressses and bulging bank accounts abroad.
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April 22, 2003 at 7:35 pm #725801
GrahamH
ParticipantSo sad & so true.
I’ve since learned that 1000 Georgian pounds in the early 18th century are the equivilant of approx one million pounds sterling today, so assuming the Custom House cost £400,000 is £40 million sterling/70 million euro a realistic price today?
Presumably as the 18th century progressed to the Custom House’s finishing date of 1791, the currency depriciated in value considerably and so – well over 100 million euro today?
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