Irelands most expensive building

Busaras…. 1 milllon plus in 1953

Ardnacrusha electrical generating station was completed in 1929 at a cost of £5.5m. I’m not sure if it counts as a building, though.

That includes building the headrace etc?

It 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.

How much is 1 million punts circa 1953 in todays money?

@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.

This 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.

Oops – 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.”

This 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.

How about Charlie’s gaff?

Although that’s just taking the furnishings into account – he has expensive tastes!

Government 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.

I 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.

Yes – 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.

I 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.

100 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.

Sure 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.

So 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?