O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Has the company doing the work on O’Connell St gone on holiday? I haven’t seen anyone working there for a while!
If it could only get worse….
Graham said it looked deceptively nice from a distance, but Dr Quirkeys are even making this possibilty end with the application of ‘gold leaf’ paint on some of the hideous cheap pillasters outside.
What the hell is going on with the Savoy? They have moved the ticket office to the left but have left the awful shutters and poor quality windows on the facade. This was a good example of what was wrong with O’Connell St. design and yet it is being kept on by the cinema? They have done an impressive job inside but that shopfront to its left is an eyesore. And don’t mention the main Savoy cinema sign….
But Things are changing on O’Connell St. If the Abbey moved to the Carlton it would do untold wonders to this end which is akin to a wasteland in parts…
🙁
The upper end has to be the most depressing part of the inner city – well maybe Parnell’s worse but it’s still terrible; it’s the atmosphere more than the physical environment I think, a wasteland in every respect.
Have to laugh at the gilding of Dr Quirkey’s – should have seen it coming 😀
The Savoy definitely needs work on the ground floor alright, and the sign. I think its greatest asset are the upper floor windows which are classic elegant Edwardian – they should be shown off better with a clean facade which hasn’t happened yet.
The mirrored PVCs of neighbouring buildings need a good smashing however, and unfortunately the Gresham never replaced their chunky aluminium jobs in the refurbishment with the original steel specimens.
In some archive footage I saw recently it was funny to see the mighty trees at this end as tiny weedy little things, barely 15 years old. I wonder if it was ever intended for them to get so large.a few pics I took last night …
The plaza really does look great. The Birch in the central median are excellent and frame the Spire nicely from different positions, as do the limes.
Still find the Spire really impressive, especially at dawn & dusk. Am happy enough with the final product, despite its imperfections. Not sure what the story is with this ‘rust’ thing, but it was fairly obvious from the early days that it would need cleaning regardless, I suppose someone other than DCC should fit the bill.
Still a spectacular landmark though …
Spire through the limes (dusk) …
GPO, looks so much better with the plaza in front, any plans to give it a clean ???
the plaza from the Spire …
Plaza, Clery’s etc …
Central median
Spire through Birch …
Last one … Spire, Larkin, GPO
O’Connell Street:
“The upper end has to be the most depressing part of the inner city..”
“..it would do untold wonders to this end which is akin to a wasteland in parts”
I often think that, while the upper end is really bad now, it shouldn’t be that difficult to transform (when the Carlton redevelopment finally begins!) because it is bookended by better quality environments; Lower O’Connell Street, minus the fast food strip, and Parnell Square with the Gate & Hugh Lane etc. The Architectural Review made reference to the latter in their landmark 1974 study of Dublin:
“The north bank of the Liffey is a flat plain, about a quarter of a mile deep and about a mile long…On this narrow central plain most of the local business of Dublin takes place. At the eastern end, centring on O’Connell Street, are the popular shops; and as a consequence the Georgian fabric has been much built over, pulled down and worn out. It is indeed hard to realise that O’Connell Street itself was originally a very classy pedestrian mall.”
The AR might come back and see what they think today!
“On the higher ground at the back the urban environment gets better”
I presume a reference to the set piece buildings in and around Parnell Square.
“At the extreme east end, in the area around Connolly Station, everything is in shattering decay; but the area between Mountjoy Square and Parnell Square is still closely set with tall, splendid relics of the 1790s, sadly run down, but still retrievable..”
It has to be one of the greatest losses for Dublin that the Rotunda wasn’t centred on O’ Cll St because of Gardiner’s lands, it would be so fantastic to have it terminating the vista today, with the arms of the colonnades sweeping round to Gandon’s pavilions – what a statement it would make. Such an irritating loss – so near yet so far!
Great pics Peter – you couldn’t have hung round for 10 mins longer for the LEDs to come on? 🙂
I think all the stone looks better in the rain, not only does it darken it, but it makes the place feel huge too, turning the plaza into a giant mirror.thanks Graham, yeah i was hanging around for ages waiting for the damn things to come on, didn’t cop on till i got home that they actually had just started to come on as i was taking the last photo … might take a trip in again during the week:D
can just see them there on the right side …
They’re great photos Graham and Peter (the way they compare and contrast….etc)
I saw that dodgy tree on the GPO plaza which lost it’s leaves being replaced this morning.Despite the supposed stricter control of the ACA, there are still some horrible things happening in the O’C St area. As well as Dr. Quirkey’s there’s that new oriental fast food restaurant on Westmoreland Street, ‘Charlie’s’. I thought that would be a no-no at this stage.
The plaza is great though. It is world-class.
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