National Wax Monstrosity

very small site – has he acquired adjacent buildings?

There already seems to be a big giant ripping the front off it!;)

Joking aside, is the Wax Museum run by separate people or is it run by the property owner?

Senator D Cassidy used to own the National Wax Museum, but I think that he disposed of it a couple of years back, it certainly was advertised for sale.

Would not seem to me to be an ideal hotel location, either site or situation wise, but perhaps there still is a demand for new hotels in Dublin. The first hotel on Dorset Street!

The site is rather reminiscent of the Abbey Theatre site, in that it is very much constrained by the road layout.

{Doubless the Abbey rebuild scheme is once again shelved, as redundancy seems to be the word in the green room there just now.}

Actually there is another hotel on Dorset Street, much further up, the name escapes me however….

The previous incarnation of the building….

The signage in that image is most insensitive, I’d really like to see drawings of the original elevation, it looks a really honest design.

It has to be one of the craziest stories I ever heard when reading that elements of a classical church still remained cloaked under those concrete walls. Even if they’re only fragments – mad! Still don’t believe it!

How anyone, anyone, in any frame of mind could have destroyed that in favour of what went up…

Be very interesting to watch that demolition, you never know what you might see.

It’d be so funny to be innocently coming along and notice half a church emerging from one of the most reviled piles in the city 🙂

if you go and take a close look its possible to see glimces of mouldings in the places where some of the concrete has been removed

This is a really awful area of the city ….a real hotch potch of architectural disasters of the 20th century, including the rubbishy concrete case that is the wax museum itself. (and not forgetting that awful Garden of Rememberance.) Jesus what were they thinking. Looking at the photo of how this area once looked, it’s very sad to realize that all the buildings has since been demolished or somewhat botched. I think the Black Church nearby must be the only antique building that has survived. The Wax works/Plaza Cinema as it looks in the photo would have been a grand edifice bar the signage to house the waxworks today. Pity it’s all to go now , including the Finn MacCuill giant which has charm.

This area will be a certified non-event with a bland red brick hotel to match the bland appartments across the road. Although it will inject some capital into the area our tourist friends will need to look out for the ”friendly folk” from the nearby flats.
Too much damage has been done to the city fabric here to recreate what was once the charm in the photo. Gone forever and replaced with dross.

@GregF wrote:

Although it will inject some capital into the area our tourist friends will need to look out for the ”friendly folk” from the nearby flats.

I really think generalising comments like that are unfair. Tourists are important to a city, but its population is what should be most important.

It’s not a generalization……it’s reality!

How do you know it is a reality? What has been your experience?

I know a few people who were robbed of their valuables around that locality.

GregF, that happens everywhere. I am afraid that at present I am concluding that you are actually generalising about everyone who lives in the area.

I think you are being a little too PC on the issue.

I agree with GregF. That area is dog rough, to the extent that tourists are warned to be careful with belongings on their way up to the Wax Museum.
And Phil, it’s also important that when people are given state-subsidised accomodation within walking distance of the city centre, they should show some appreciation of that fact and perhaps take some pride in those lodgings – and not allow them fall into chronic disrepair.

No am not being to PC on the issue. I am just sick to death of people generalising about various areas of the city. I am not denying that there are crime problems in various parts of Dublin, of course there is. However, there are broader societal reasons for sections of a community resorting to crime. The reason I took issue with your point is that you came out with a sweeping statement which encompased everyone. If someone gets caught committing a white collar crime (or any other crime) in one of the more affluent suburbs, should the whole area be blamed for their wrong-doing? I just think you need to think about the localities in the broader sense, and not just based on an element which gives them a bad name.

Kefu, the majority of the blight in that area has been caused by developers who have allowed various properties to fall into ruined conditions.

I lived on Henrietta Street for nearly two years and never once in the area between there and Parnell Square did anyone look sideways at my camera…. further up dorset street was a different story – so I used to carry them under my coat

Perhaps referring to the ‘activities’ of the area would be more appropriate than generalising its people – which presumably is what was intended…

Agreed about the unfortunate nature of the area though – every time we used to pass the Wax in the car it was always ‘lock your doors’ :rolleyes: – frightened the hell out of us as kids 🙂

Pleasant enough area to walk through during the day though – lots of fading grandeur…

Is it true that at one time (when Henrietta street was built) this was the most fashionable area of the city? I’ve often heard this but I don’t know how true it is.

Henrietta Street was a “posh” area …. Dorset Street at that time would still have been largely a country road….

Henrietta Street
Archiseek / Ireland / Buildings of Ireland / Dublin / North City / Henrietta Street / Introduction

Henrietta Street dates from the 1720s and was laid out by Luke Gardiner as his first venture. Gardiner, more than any other individual was responsible for turning Dublin into an elegant Georgian city. Named after Henrietta, Duchess of Grafton it is a dead-end terminated by the Law Society’s Kings Inns and was designed an as enclave of prestigious houses. The street is still cobbled but many of the fine houses are now in disrepair.

In the mid 1700s, the street was inhabited by five peers, a peeress, a peer’s son, a judge, a member of parliament, a Bishop and two wealthy clergymen as well as Luke Gardiner himself. At the top end of the street next to the Kings Inns is the Law Library designed by Frederick Darley in 1827. This replaced three of the oldest houses on the street. A proposal by Abercrombie for a National Cathedral in this area would have meant the demolition of the street with the Kings Inns forming one side of a large piazza.

http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/henrietta_street/index.html

Yes, it was the streets off Dorset St that were the most exclusive, with really just Henrietta St, Dominick St and Eccles St being the only exclusive ones north of Dorset.
But by contrast there were many more streets south of here that were the Beverly Downs of the 18th century, new money but grand nonetheless 🙂

Paul, What is the alignment of that National Cathedral plan.
I can’t make out where Henrietta Street or the King’s Inns are.

Kefu, is there a copy of that map on this site somewhere? I thought I had seen it here before, but now I cannot find it. Otherwise there is a copy of it in Reinventing Modern Dublin by Yvonne Whelan.

in the image:
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/henrietta_street/cathedral_proposal_lge.html

Henrietta Street has been demolished… to the left of the piazza (the space with the obelisk) is the Kings Inns

Thanks for that Paul. I knew I had seen something to do with it on this site before.

@Graham Hickey wrote:

It’d be so funny to be innocently coming along and notice half a church emerging from one of the most reviled piles in the city 🙂

Graham, (and anyone else interested) I was walking past the Wax Museum today and I noticed that through some missing brickwork the remains of that old church actually can be seen! I am not actually joking about this. What I think I could see is the top part of that alcove that is to the top left of the building shown in the photo posted by Paul as it was before it was surrounded by the present building! (If that makes any sense)

Phil

Oooh – how exciting 🙂

Thanks for that Phil – must take a look. I was talking to someone who was speaking with the ‘curator’ 🙂 of the museum, and he said quite a lot of the church remains – though ‘quite a lot’ is fairly subjective…
It’s due to close in June/July I think.

Has anybody been passing the Wax Museum upstairs on the number 10 . .. and seen the tantilising georgain ionic column bearly veiwable through the hole in the facade? I’d love to see it uncovered. is there any plans for this site?

I don’t think it’s the top of a colum, rather one of two little flourishes over the alcove (incorrect term I know) which you can see in the picture if you go back through this thread. You may also read that the whole thing is to be demolished and replaced with a hotel.

The mind boggles at what was going through the head of the developer at the time; why would you even bother going to the effort and expense of shrouding any building, let alone an historic church, in a concrete box?! :confused:
Why would you want to make your investment even uglier?!

These were taken a while ago, but yes you can make out various details in some of the gaps in the cladding – indeed it’s not even cladding, more of a shell that just covers over the church. The ground floor arches seen in Paul’s picture below can be made out from the pavement below:

A monster of a structure all round.

The architect should be sued for this thing if he or she is still alive…….its f*cking awful…no doubt it was influenced by the Abbey Theatre.
How they could see this thing as an improverment to the area is beyond belief.

Who owns this building?

Donnie Cassidy?

Yes I think thats him of CMR records fame who has decided to have Eddie Hobbs researched by consultants using taxpayers money.

the plans for this site are

Full Development Description

I, Daniel Cassidy, intend to apply for permission for development consisting of the demolition of the existing wax museum building and construction of a 118 bedroom hotel development with ancillary accomodation consisting of seven stories of accomodation over basement service area/car park,new vehicular access way to basement service area/car park off Bethesda Place, reception, lounge, restaurant, bar, kitchen & ancillary facilities at ground level and bedroom and ancillary facilities at upper levels, at the wax museum site bounded by Dorset Street and Granby Row to the West & South and by Bethesda Place to the North located at Dorset Street & Granby Row, Parnell Square, Dublin 1.

planning app 4215/04 . GRANTED. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE TOLD THEM ABOUT THE OLD BUILDING UNDERNEATH. – COZ OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITION.
CONDITION
1. There is a discrepancy between the conclusion of the conservation report submitted with the application and the report of the City Council’s Conservation Officer, dated 18/01/05, following the recent opening up works. In light of the third party objection to the demolition of the existing building, it is considered that the architectural and historic significance of the extant eighteenth-century fabric be fully assessed at this juncture. The applicant is asked to submit a revised Conservation Statement, which should be informed by the nature and extent of original fabric uncovered as a result of the opening up works viewed on the 13/01/05 as part of the submitted additional information request. It is noted that the applicant’s conservation consultant is asked to contact the area planner before the submission of this clarification to facilitate a joint detailed site inspection in conjunction with the City Conservation Officer.

@ConK wrote:

the plans for this site are

Full Development Description

I, Daniel Cassidy, intend to apply for permission for development consisting of the demolition of the existing wax museum building and construction of a 118 bedroom hotel development with ancillary accomodation consisting of seven stories of accomodation over basement service area/car park,new vehicular access way to basement service area/car park off Bethesda Place, reception, lounge, restaurant, bar, kitchen & ancillary facilities at ground level and bedroom and ancillary facilities at upper levels, at the wax museum site bounded by Dorset Street and Granby Row to the West & South and by Bethesda Place to the North located at Dorset Street & Granby Row, Parnell Square, Dublin 1.

planning app 4215/04 . GRANTED. BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE TOLD THEM ABOUT THE OLD BUILDING UNDERNEATH. – COZ OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITION.
CONDITION
1. There is a discrepancy between the conclusion of the conservation report submitted with the application and the report of the City Council’s Conservation Officer, dated 18/01/05, following the recent opening up works. In light of the third party objection to the demolition of the existing building, it is considered that the architectural and historic significance of the extant eighteenth-century fabric be fully assessed at this juncture. The applicant is asked to submit a revised Conservation Statement, which should be informed by the nature and extent of original fabric uncovered as a result of the opening up works viewed on the 13/01/05 as part of the submitted additional information request. It is noted that the applicant’s conservation consultant is asked to contact the area planner before the submission of this clarification to facilitate a joint detailed site inspection in conjunction with the City Conservation Officer.

surely if there is anything left of the old church underneath that “fallout shelter” he will not be permitted to demolish it!!!

I was pasing this building yesterday evening and it was about 50% demolished. I could see cross sections of walls cutting through the concrete sarcophagus and features like archways within.

If anyone is around Dorset street with a camera, it would be great to get a photo before it is levelled.

Is any of the surviving stonework being rescued? Or is it all going to landfill.

Can someone just deliver an enforcement complaint ASAP;

I’d do it myself but I’m out of the Country.

Rough text

Enforcement Officer
Dublin 1 section
Enforcement Section
Floor 2 Block 4
Civic Officesw
Wood Quay
Dublin 8

15th Septemeber 2005

Dear Sir,

I wish to complain on breaches of planning permission 4215/04 as granted by Dublin City Council and as qualified by condition 1 of the permission

‘ There is a discrepancy between the conclusion of the conservation report submitted with the application and the report of the City Council’s Conservation Officer, dated 18/01/05, following the recent opening up works. In light of the third party objection to the demolition of the existing building, it is considered that the architectural and historic significance of the extant eighteenth-century fabric be fully assessed at this juncture. The applicant is asked to submit a revised Conservation Statement, which should be informed by the nature and extent of original fabric uncovered as a result of the opening up works viewed on the 13/01/05 as part of the submitted additional information request. It is noted that the applicant’s conservation consultant is asked to contact the area planner before the submission of this clarification to facilitate a joint detailed site inspection in conjunction with the City Conservation Officer.’

It is clear that the conservation report was flawed as indicated by the photos enclosed with this letter. We request that enforcement procedings be commenced with the greatest of urgency given the gravity of this matter.

Yours Sincerely

Concerned Citizen

Enclosures

1. Planning Condition 1
2. Images (2-5)

Do not forget to put your full name and address as it will be invalidated if you do not.

Number 1 – we don’t know that the original building has been touched and
Number 2 – this is a high profile case, surely nothing untoward is going on here.

Perhaps that is being naive, but equally jumping to conclusions is unhelpful too.
Will anyone be around the area today/tomorrow to have a good look?

Granted it may be jumping to conclusions but when is out of the country then one can’t jump into the car to check it out and satisfy oneself that only a couple of bricks have come down. I’ve never known Frank to be too wide of the mark and I’ve never seen a conservation report to be questioned as much before either.

If someonhe could get check it out then we will really know one way or the other.

I was there this morning. – the front is still there. Some Photos.
:confused:

Thats the end of that building

i am pleased to see the pictures of it going. it is an awful building. i am so lol. 😀

@Thomond Park wrote:

Rough text

Enforcement Officer
Dublin 1 section
Enforcement Section
Floor 2 Block 4
Civic Officesw
Wood Quay
Dublin 8

15th Septemeber 2005

Dear Sir,

I wish to complain on breaches of planning permission 4215/04 as granted by Dublin City Council and as qualified by condition 1 of the permission

‘ There is a discrepancy between the conclusion of the conservation report submitted with the application and the report of the City Council’s Conservation Officer, dated 18/01/05, following the recent opening up works. In light of the third party objection to the demolition of the existing building, it is considered that the architectural and historic significance of the extant eighteenth-century fabric be fully assessed at this juncture. The applicant is asked to submit a revised Conservation Statement, which should be informed by the nature and extent of original fabric uncovered as a result of the opening up works viewed on the 13/01/05 as part of the submitted additional information request. It is noted that the applicant’s conservation consultant is asked to contact the area planner before the submission of this clarification to facilitate a joint detailed site inspection in conjunction with the City Conservation Officer.’

It is clear that the conservation report was flawed as indicated by the photos enclosed with this letter. We request that enforcement procedings be commenced with the greatest of urgency given the gravity of this matter.

Yours Sincerely

Concerned Citizen

Enclosures

1. Planning Condition 1
2. Images (2-5)

Do not forget to put your full name and address as it will be invalidated if you do not.

That’s a request for clarification of further information you’ve quoted, not a grant of planning permission.

An Taisce and the Irish Georgian Society had made third party submissions to the original planning application, expressing concern that the remaining extent of the classical stone building underneath the ‘60s skin needed to be established – and to ask whether there was a possibility of saving the building – before proceeding with redevelopment plans. When it became clear that the building was beyond saving (i.e. after opening up works described in a Further Information report had shown incompleteness in the remains of the building – the portico had been mostly removed and sections of wall to Dorset Street had been replaced in render – and also because, were the shell of what remained of the building to be kept at that point, who would have taken on the immense task of restoring it?), a meeting was held to discuss a Salvage Plan for the building as it survived. It was agreed that a section of wall would be salvaged and reconstructed either within the new hotel, or somewhere else in the vicinity. Other good stonework would also be salvaged.

The demolition of the building has to be carried out in accordance with this Salvage Plan (which is available at the public planning counter).

That seems to be a good compromise – there’s no point in attempting a rebuild if there’s only fragments remaining, as disappointing as it is.
Con’s pictures are rather pleasing 🙂 – I wonder have all the masonry elements been salvaged at this stage, or do they mostly reside to the front of the building: the part that has yet to be knocked?

Just on the subject of Luke Gardiner we have Blooms day tours also 1916 walking tours – why not a Luke Gardnier architectural and planning tour – for in my estimation he was the only thinking town planner this city ever had. It’s really amazing to think that there is not even a statue or plaque to the man responsible for what we know as Georgian Dublin – if ever the term airbrushed out of history was apppropriate it applies to Luke Gardnier.

Who is regarded as more ‘significant’, Luke I or Luke II?

Found out recently who ‘designed’ the Wax Museum/Cinema in 1967. Anyone care to guess who was responsible?
Not exactly rocket science now…

Rachel Whiteread’s alter ego?

Based on the Abbey and Cork Opera House, I’ll guess Michael Scott (no, I haven’t Googled it). The possibilities are fairly narrow, given the date and the fact that you’re even asking- it’s hardly going to be some County Council fella from Tullamore, is it? 🙂

Well it certainly looks like it 🙂

Scott is a valiantly insightful, yet incorrect attempt – next please!
Architectural historian indeed… 😀

Very close ctesiphon, but it was in fact the Main Man himself:

🙁 (sob)

Oh I think my professional reputation remains intact- had I advertised myself as a bunker historian (a la Paul Virilio?) then perhaps your criticism would be more wounding, but the Monstrosity hardly qualified as architecture now, did it? 🙂

At 1967, it was fairly early for auld Sammy I think. He and Arthur Gibney entered the UCD competition in 1963-64 as relatively fresh graduates and their scheme, which came 4th, was actually pretty interesting. Instructive to see how far he’d fallen in the space of a few short years.

(Do I sound like an Architectural Historian now? 😎 )

Stephenson, Gibney and Associates, in 1967.

(I wonder did “House of Wax” ever play there in cinema days?)

I was struck by a little browsing today in Easons – I came across a picture book about Dublin’s cinemas, and I have to say the loss of so many buildings and fine interiors is quite a shame – The National Wax Museum building (c1967) was a cinema both before the re-cladding and after – they have a photo of it in that book as well as the old cinema. It was quite stark as a cinema.

Aswell as this, there were phenomenal shots of the interior of the Savoy,Metropole, Theatre Royal and Carlton – I was shocked to learn that the Savoy once had an enormouse 2,900 seat auditorium – it was lavishly decorated. Similar auditoriums existed in the Metropole, Carlton and Theatre Royal.

The exteriors of the original Savoy were quite dignified and restrained, and if there was ever a case for re-instatement, this would be one of them. The canopy was well finished with urns and other Egyptian fanciful decoration.

Have to say seeing the Wax Monstrosity as it was orignially intended – a new cinema – was not too bad.

Oh yes, I saw that book – it’s quite a good record, isn’t it?

Reasonably priced too at only €25. It’ll be a huge hit for Christmas.
Have to say the interior of the Savoy looks ever so slightly ridiculous though with that Venetian streetscene – in contrast to the foyer which is magnificent.

It is even cheaper in Reads, Nassau St, if you want to shop early for Christmas.

Yes it is very good to have that new book.

From Bethesda to Cinerama
Marc Zimmermann

A number of movie theatres have shaped the cinematic landscape of the city over the past ninety-eight years. They include Dublin’s first dedicated cinema (the VOLTA, 1909), the city’s first purpose-built CinemaScope screen (STATE, ’54), the first twinned venue (SAVOY, ’69) and Ireland’s first multiplex (UCI TALLAGHT, ’90). A further number of both well- and lesser-known venues forms a significant part of the capital’s architectural and social history. One of these was the DORSET. The building it occupied for over seven decades had an unusual life, serving three di-verse purposes over two centuries.

http://ireland.archiseek.com/news/2007/000086.html

@Paul Clerkin wrote:

From Bethesda to Cinerama
Marc Zimmermann

A number of movie theatres have shaped the cinematic landscape of the city over the past ninety-eight years. They include Dublin’s first dedicated cinema (the VOLTA, 1909), the city’s first purpose-built CinemaScope screen (STATE, ’54), the first twinned venue (SAVOY, ’69) and Ireland’s first multiplex (UCI TALLAGHT, ’90). A further number of both well- and lesser-known venues forms a significant part of the capital’s architectural and social history. One of these was the DORSET. The building it occupied for over seven decades had an unusual life, serving three di-verse purposes over two centuries.

http://ireland.archiseek.com/news/2007/000086.html

heart breaking insnt it!

@StephenC wrote:

The Wax Museum is moving to Smithfield Market according to its manager who was being interviewed last week on City Edition (NewsTalk 106FM). The new museum should be completed by next summer.

according to this site the wax museum is now moving to Grafton Street, due to open Summer 2007. (old habitat shop???)
http://www.visitdublin.com/seeanddo/kidsdublin/Detail.aspx?id=288&mid=861

I see Fusano have been busy of late in smithfield
Change of use to Cinema at Smithfield lodged by Fusano 28th February 2007……..Is this the re-opened lighthouse? could be good

change of use to cinema (class 11) / exhibition (class 10) use from the following: (a) Auditorium/exhibition area at ground floor (constructed) and 3 no. basement levels of Block A (partially constructed); (b) cultural/museum area at ground floor (constructed) of Block A; and (c) part of basement car park at 3 no. levels (not constructed). Proposed cinema / exhibition area to comprise c.5265.8sqm gross floor area (GFA)(including all voids) as follows: c.599.93sqm at ground level, c.1490.80sqm at basement level – 1, c. 1573.97sqm at basement level -2 and c.1601.10 sqm at basement level -3 (permitted GFA of auditorium/exhibition area is c3,376sqm). Internal alterations to permitted ground floor and 3 no. basement levels of Block A, and part basement car park area at 3 no levels to include the following: construction of a 4 screen cinema with a total seating capacity of 632 persons, cafe/bar, foyer areas, multi-purpose rooms, management suite, concesion / retail areas and ancillary areas including circulation, wc’s, storage, plant and staff accommodation

not so great

also at Smithfield lodged by Fusano 13th March 2007
“Proposed pin mounted individual lettering non illuminated “Real Gourmet Burger” over entrance doors to retail unit 15, proposed signage will be located on the east and west elevations of block c over entrance doors to unit 15 externally. Proposed pin mounted individual lettering non illuminated “Paddy Power” over entrance doors to retail unit 17 proposed signage will be located on the east and west elevations of block c over entrance doors to unit 17 externally. Proposed pin mounted individual lettering back illuminated (halo effect) “Eves Food to tempt you” over existing fascia/spandrel panel to east elevation and south elevation over main entrance doors to unit 20a of Block C.

@GrahamH wrote:

[/IMG]

I like the look of the pub on the corner. The buildings that replaced these are of such poor quality – I wonder when this block went………..

It is for the Lighthouse cinema

What happened to the old Wax museum building reminds me very much of what happened to the old Royal Hippodrome Theatre in Belfast (site now occupied by the Grand Opera House extension). It was perhaps a finer theatre than the Opera House, yet in the 60/70s it was clad in a really nasty steel skin, which made it look perhaps worse than the wax museum did! I’ll try and find a pic…

http://peterleach.info/hippodrome/intro.shtml

I hope they update the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. When it closed. they still had a figure of Boy George.

Ah, O Donohoes, I remember having a more than a few pints in there, right after school. A lot of us from Colaiste Mhuire knew that age wasn’t a big factor in that bar, but it was a real kip inside!

Thinking about this quite impressive church I wonder – how could this have been lost in such a relatively recent past. It really does look quite impressive. Would not the Georgian Society have been active in the late 1960s or was that time just a free for all? Could this have happened if the same people got their hands on St George’s Church on Temple St and decided also to encase it?

Did Sam ever talk about this project? Justify it as an improvement? I think its a far worse crime than the Bunkers – at least he didn’t have to deface actual impressive buildings to construct them.

Well what’s gone up looks awful. Typical rubbish being flung around the nortsayiid.

So which is better? 😮

Now, I know ‘budget’ hotel refers to modest accommodation, but this appears to have mixed this up with the standard of the structure itself. For a 3-star hotel, this is simply appalling elevational treatment. I can’t believe this was allowed through in an area of future regeneration.

Given it’s a flagship public building for the area, is this the high water mark of design DCC are setting for the environs of Dorset Street for the next ten years?

It’s Arran Quay 2007.

that is unbelievably bad

Given it’s a flagship public building for the area, is this the high water mark of design DCC are setting for the environs of Dorset Street for the next ten years?

Thats truly depressing looking, especially for an ‘up and coming” area.
There seems to be a production-line churning out this garbage.

Particularly depressing considering there’s been a lot of effort put in on Dorset St/Drumcondra Road these past five years. How can DCC let this stuff through. It seems like the only way something like this would be blocked is if they had wanted to build it double that height. Like Frank McD says – these are the future slums of Dublin.

Imagine how unbelievably shite it’ll look in about 10 years time….

@GrahamH wrote:

So which is better? 😮

It is amazing that we seem to spend so much time giving out about buildings from the 60s,70s and 80s on these threads whilst absolute rubbish like this is sprouting up underneath our noses. Can this actually be described as architecture? All it is missing is a giant trying to climb out of the roof!

Funny how, after redevelopment, this thread title still applies. What are the planners at …

Looks like the « BORG » have decided to make a permanent base on that site.;)

These buildings look like they are made of cardboard!

Ah, come off it: There is no comparison between the old and the new. The original building was a hideous windowless threatening grey box. It sat on that corner like the abandoned abortion of a nuclear power station. I felt some relief when it went. The same feeling I had when DIck Roche lost his job.

The new structure is insipid and unremarkable. In its favour it is certainly ‘of its time’ which should please those of you concerned that the historical record of the city is not contaminated by deceptive pastiche. At least it has windows.

I’m surprised that nobody has yet said this was a lost opportunity to make this building sixty floors higher and thus propel Ireland into the fighter-jet/stealth-submarine age.

who designed it?

Designed? Surely you mean put together, I think they found a P.V.Doyle kit in the basement.

that looks bloody awful.

I suppose it’s progress of a sort that the ‘hideous and threatening’ is replaced by the only ‘insipid and unremarkable’ but shoudn’t this city be aiming a little higher? It’s better but not much.

Well at least some good has come out of it: namely a funny thread. Had a good guffaw reading through all of the above 😀

Two relatively minor tweaks alone could have converted this into a more palatable box: the replacement of the render with a crisp white brick, and the ditching of the red ‘towers’ in favour of a grey brick or a matt limestone cladding. At least add some texture to the darn thing – really, what a disaster. As for these window infill panels, they are the curse of the modern city. Any developer from hereonin proposing their use must to be forced to have them installed in place of the plastic Georgian grids in their own piles in Malahide. A worthy addition to the next City Development Plan methinks.

@sw101 wrote:

who designed it?

Quote =Funny how, after redevelopment, this thread title still applies. What are the planners at …Quote

A planner – obviously. High time we employed architects to design buildings instead.

A pile of pastiche by the sounds of it – and a seven-storey pile at that; they only got six in the end.

Two more views of it nearing completion. It’s even worse that previously could be made out; the ground floor elevation is simply appalling.

And the delightful view looking north.

Clearly they’re the same architects responsible for Jurys on Parnell Street. The blacked out grey-framed glazing, red brick and general box-like treatment is identical. A completely blank facade is now presented to Dorset Street, with no entrance, no windows addressing the thoroughfare, and no design treatment whatever to suggest that it is even the principal elevation – all combining to reinforce Dorset Street’s status as a dual carriageway ploughing its way through the north inner city: it has turned its back on it.

A monstrous blank face, soon to be peppered with air vents and a token pair of uplighters.

And a classic DCC detail outside too. New granite paving is being laid, complete with brushed steel traffic signal poles. Only, given the new pole is already in place beside the old galvanised one…

…then eh, ummm…

And the new pavement is also miserably wide to cater for the left turn onto Granby Row. As can be seen, it gets narrower and tighter as it approaches the corner, an unpleasant sticking point for pedestrians at this busy junction.

as bad as that is, and it is incredibly bad … wait until you see the yoke that has gone up in clondalkin village, also referred to as an ‘hotel’ … probably the worst ‘modern’ pile i’ve ever seen, its so bad i might actually resurect myself out of my hangover tomorrow to take some shots.

What a pity Graham,that you didnt ramble a little further Northwards to the junction of Dorset and Nth Frederick Streets where you could have recorded for historical purposes yet another fine example of a City Council which appears to be run by professional wideboys and chancers.

Just as you clearly outline the nonsense of the old vs new Traffic Signal poles at the Waxer,so to could you document the state of the roadway at Nth Frederick St junction.
Here DCC have had almost every Civils Contractor with a JCB in Dublin around to dig,backfill,re-dig and half back-fill again.
The icing on this particular cake was a contractor doing a very nice PERMANENT job but only on HALF the width of the original opening,leaving the other half full of the usual loose chippings and assorted other muck which the heavy rain soon washes away.

It appears that DCC does not have a single Professional Civil Engineer who understands the somewhat fragile relationship which exists between the Irish climate and wheelbarrowfulls of loose filling…..Time and time again throughout the DCC administrative area we see remarkable evidence of Potholes,fissures,and chasms which are negligently filled with loose shingle,tar or simply stones only for the rain to wash it all away and for the original hole to deepen,widen and pose a greater threat to health and safety !

I have given up on this crowd of Shams in Civic Offices,as far as I can make out they subscribe to the Pee`n Bev school of hard neckism with little or no realization of the consequences of their actions… 😮

I didn’t see this story in any Irish newspapers but it seems that the wax dummies have been stolen.

Ravers take Teletubbies
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007350323,00.html

Bob the builder is missing too – I think someone should tell the guards he’s probably been in the paving section of DCC for a while.

Can he fix it?

no, but he can do a half assed reinstatement which renders it ugly and dangerous to walk on.

Not as catchy i know.

a brief mention of the wa museum moving to grafton street? any more info

http://www.visitdublin.com/SeeAndDo/Detail.aspx?id=249&mid=861

Obviously, the future of this important cultural institution has been halted by the alarming disappearance of the Teletubbies and certain military apparel belonging to Josef Stalin. Should modern civilization ever recover, one hopes that a Wax Museum opening on Grafton Street (sans or avec les Tubbies) would surely cement Dublin’s reputation as a nucleus of innovation and forward thinking.

As far as I know, the latest plans were to re-open in Smithfield. Somehow, I’ve stopped holding my breath.

Seriously though – will they have a centra, spar or Londis shop on the ground floor, your bets now please:D

Speaking of monstrosities, what do people think of the plans for this – fairly crucial – site at Blackhall Place.
http://www.omahonyfinnerty.com/node/19
It looks to me like a sort of spawn of the new Comfort Inn at the Wax Museum and the Jurys on Parnell Street.
Hard to believe developers are still coming up with this stuff at sites, which have such extraordinary potential.

so i hear from joe dolan that the wax museum is going in fosters place opening after xmas…

Wow!……look at the difference. And it all occured within the space of about 40 odd years!

Well done to all involved, a 100% improvement …..LOL!

Weak beyond belief why dont they just knock down the whole feckin city then expand the ILAC center over the whole northside and Have a Casino and a 200 hole golf course on the southside. Im of to belfast. huh huh

🙂

@GregF wrote:

Wow!……look at the difference. And it all occured within the space of about 40 odd years!

Well done to all involved, a 100% improvement …..LOL!

Jaysus that’s depressing