O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Unfortunately it was only the ground floor facade that permission was applied for – the rest of the building, i,e, the worst part (and majority) will remain exactly the same. Because this development only affects the ground floor, this is the only part of the building to be altered. Eircom still occupy all the upper floors.
Still, what is proposed looks promising – sharp new expansive glazing and ‘innovative’ diaplays. Indeed this was a strict condition of Planning, that dead frontage was to be avoided at all costs – so good to see they’re on the ball.
De Paor’s office seem to have designed some pretty funky internal partitions and divisions – here’s one of their images.
© de Paor ArchitectsSo you can see little has changed, but the ground floor facia which is currenty crude concrete is going to be tiled in white tiles, as was orginally the case, to match the parapet above – though surely one of the nastiest features of the building?!
The concrete piers are going to be stripped of the dodgy granite cladding, repaired, and the bare finish waxed down – sounds pretty cool. It should contrast nicely with the expansive glazing and crisp internal partitions. The plan view of the partitions is very angular and sharply skewed, so should make for an engaging view from the street. Planning have also made an exception for this non-retail use, given it ties in with government policy to provide a prominent outlet for the promotion of Irish Aid in the centre of Dublin. I think the IAP also suggested a premises for tourists and foreign visitors to trace their ancestry and Ireland’s international connections, so it’s not a million miles away from such an alternative use.
It’s a shame though that the problem facade is not being addressed by the owner: it probably won’t happen till a new office tenant is being sought. It really is a hideous building – not only ugly in detailing, but also loud and all-consuming – contributing nothing to the subtly-grained character of the street.
Is it just me though, or does anyone recall a fairly recent proposal for new upper elevations for this building – lots of glass and sailing pointy-out bits? Must be somewhere else…
June Bank Holiday Weekend. If the weather is a.o.k (ie no wind), DCC propose to erect a crane to clean and fix lights! Fingers Crossed
yeah crane supposed to go up tomorrow according to today’s IT, set to take two days …
Can it be cleaned in two days ? what are they going to do, get out a bucket & mop 😀From RTE
Traffic restrictions during cleaning of Spire
Saturday, 2 June 2007 11:14A spokesman for Dublin City Council is confident that maintenance work on the Spire will get under way tomorrow morning.
A 120m high crane will be used to work on the structure’s lighting and to clean it from top to bottom.
Up to eight maintenance workers will use power washers and spray-on cleaning agents to polish the Spire.
AdvertisementThe two-day project is subject to weather conditions but Central Area Manager with Dublin City Council, Charlie Lowe, says is confident it will go ahead as planned.
Traffic restrictions will apply in the vicinity of O’Connell Street during the works.
🙁
Rain Rain go to SpainNo cranes today….although its not that windy. Easy for me to say…Im not 120m in the air!
Good oul Charlie…..I wonder is he anything to Teresa….??
I also wonder if anybody sent a postcard to Dublin Bus advising of the “Restrictions” especially as it may impact on Bus Services to Broke Park an the likes…
Mind U any Public Transport company that insists on putting ALL of it`s eggs in one narrow little basket deserves everything it gets in return !! 😮
BTW does this mean DCC are no longer describing the item as “Self-Cleaning”…?
i think that point has been conceeded aright 😉
The big problem that remains with O’Connell St. in Dublin is those two buildings at either corner as you approach it from O’Connell Bridge. The one on the left with the Bailey’s ad is dirty and ugly, and the Bailey’s sign makes it look worse. That needs to be revamped in some way. The one on the other side is uglified by all that green decoration for Irish Permanent. O’Connell St. in general has been much improved, but until those buildings are taken care of, it will continue to have a certain grotty appearance.
I would have thought there are a lots more problems on the street than that but I agree with the condition of the Batchelors Walk corner. Its become very rundown. I year on from the competion of repaving the IAP team seem to have run out of energy though…in fact since the IAPs are now defunct I imagine no one is charged with completing the 1998 plan.
Walking down camden Street for the first time in a while the other day and i was really struck by the vibe on the street. Its surely one of the most successful modern streets in the city. A great range and diversity of shops and other services, apartments, pubs and restaurants. Its the real 18hour city street. It lokks well after a repaving a few years back and the market stalls add life and vibrancy to the street. Highly successful. Surely a model to be replicated in other areas of the city.
Fully agreed – it’s great street to live or work near. Always buzzing, and a great mixture of businesses to draw large and diverse crowds. A charming building stock too, and there’s something of a boom of late in high quality shopfronts – though upper floors are still being neglected and need attention. One of DCC’s sole contributions to the street could be done without however – namely more truckloads of mindless silver repro lampposts…
What a day today! The rain was something else – it never stopped once since last night!
Still, the city can look great in the rain: it really brings out colour and texture. And of course adds great drama in attempting to clean a 120 metre pole 🙂
The crane is enormous, though not quite the same height as that that erected the Spire originally. So that’s why so much of the Upper median was left as dead space!
Quite the presence.
It takes quite a bit of Spike Cleaning Agent™ to wash one of these spires down.
The preliminary inspection got underway at about 11.30am. A special horseshoe unit has been specially built for this operation – it’s brand new.
A few last points were checked, notes exchanged, and it was time to go. It lifted slowly and gracefully up off the ground.
And up…
It paused at various stages to catch its breath, before starting up again.
Getting higher and higher, Fidelity couldn’t bear to watch.
Rising high above the street below.
Past the thoroughfare’s canopy of lamp standards.
Some great views to be had from up there.
It took some delicate manoeuvring from below.
Gently guided by ropes…
…being controlled by two additional hands down on the street.
Stopping for a breather halfway up, Jim kindly offered a welcome helping hand.
Talk about stomach-churning!
Sir Grey was tempted to turn and take a peek, but decided to maintain his dignified stance, in spite of the spilling rain.
Hibernia by contrast couldn’t stop craning that long neck of hers, even with the best seat in the house.
Slowly but surely it began to near the top.
Courage’s snake took a swipe as it drew near, but she managed to grab him just in time.
And finally completed the 120 metre journey 15 minutes later.
Argggh– who forgot to bring up the feckin power jet?!
Excellent pics Graham, thanks.
Seeing the crane back up today brings back a lot of the excitement from time of construction.Ok, I’m not normally one to criticise much, like to leave that to Alex 😉
BUT, the truth is that the final finish on the Spire is a major disappointment. It’s still great, warts & all, but thats the problem, there are warts. Any join or roll lines on such a monumental reflective sculpture are completely unacceptable, worst of all is the one joining the base section to the remainder. Whats worse again is that these lines are randomly throughout, not just at joins.
Perhaps the original error was made when DCC succumbed to conservative calls that a mirrored stainless steel would blind drivers & public. Fact is, shot peening, just did not work.
Either did lighting, the LED job is just not right, I think the tip should be temporarily removed & a softer (& stronger) halogen like beam fitted.
Spots on the base & mid sections are essential.
the vectorial elevation exhibition showed some of the potential.
Still an excellent monument & IMO right for the location & era, but now DCC need to realise the potential, an appropriate lighting design, and it seems regular cleaning, are the key.
With acknowledgement to the original anonymous wag, when the spike was first installed, when will we again be able to sing “I can see Clerys now the crane has goneâ€?🙂
Right Peter,so I`ll go on……
Quote [Graham]
“The crane is enormous, though not quite the same height as that that erected the Spire originally. So that’s why so much of the Upper median was left as dead space!
[End]Well it was`nt all dead space cos Public Lighting had to make a somewhat rushed appearance there since last midweek in order to remove several lamp standards and a CCTV post……..Hmmmmm I can hear the City Manager now…….
“Well Pat,of course your City Management KNEW all along we`d need space to park the crane…it`s just that lamp standards are such…such…well…Permanent Structures like …you know..and thats why we erected them there…..Oh don`t worry it`s all fully budgeted for,why only last week I got the Chief Accountant to do a little inventive foreign exchange transaction in order to pay for the crane…..”
Anybody care to try a Ballpark figure for the couple of days “Action”…..? (and perhaps speculate on how much in the € the commercial rate will increase this year)
Hey…I`v just had a great idea ! How about registering The Spire as a commercial property and making a fortune from merchandising…Y`know…a stroll along Moore St with the oul wan`s shoutin….”Get de last of ur rubber spires now ladies” 😀
Oh …sorry…what do you mean we tried that..?….Jeez nobody tells the City Manager anything around here now !!!! 😮
I saw the Spire this morning after the clean up. It glistened in the sun and looked good overall, but on close inspection some staining is still disappointingly visible as well as the joints. Also there is a marked difference in tone between the patterned base of the Spire and the rest. A good going over with Duraglit or Brasso would have brought the sheen of the Spire up better.
I saw that some of the new trees were removed for the positionng of the crane. It said on the news that this cleaning will happen every 18 months, which is good as it ‘ll badly need it but will the trees have to be removed on each occasion?I have to admit I quite like tacky signage on O’Connell Street – especially the Happy Ring House by the Spire. It’s very recognisably Dublin compared to the over-abundant Centra and Spar facades that you come accross everywhere else.
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