Point Village

AMSE Wins Contract for Point Village Watchtower

31/3/08

AMSE has secured the structural steelwork contract for the Point Village Watchtower, which will be the signature building in an €800 million development on the North side of Dublin Quays.

The Watchtower will rise over 120 metres over the Quays and will include luxury apartments, office space, a mini TV and radio studio and rooftop bar and restaurant with panoramic views over Dublin Bay and the City.

AMSE will fabricate 2500 tonnes of steel for the project, which will be erected on site by our specialist erection crews in 50 weeks. The expected completion date for the project is 2009.

AMSE is delighted to once again be working with Main Contractors McNamara Construction, Structural Engineers O’Connor Sutton Cronin and Architects Scott Tallon Walker.

http://www.amse.ie/Point_Watchtower.htm

http://www.kone.com/en_TH/main/0,,print=true&content=69160,00.html

If structural contracts are signed and timeframes like ’50 weeks’ given (which is less then a year) then presumably it is underway. I wont be convinced till I see the lift shaft rise though but yes seems like good news for once. Excavations could well be finished. It could be ready to go. Fingers crossed we end up with something…..just to prove to Dubliners high rise does not automatically equal bad.

What’s all the Cloak and Dagger Jason Bourne stuff?
It’s only a medium sized tower going up….no big deal!

It’s not really that big a deal,I mean same basic concepts as any other buildings!!!But I think it’s location is a bit odd. It seems to be going into that large excavation almost directly behind the point itself. It’s a bit….random.For want of a better description.It’ll just be kinda sticking up there in the middle of nothing in particular….

Do we not all want to be able to see straight from Amiens street to the containers in the Docklands?No?!!
Yeah, I hear you, but it is a slightly random location. Where does the Luas end down there, it seems to be going in a dead straight line down the middle of the IFSC, Spencer Dock, and on to the Point.Does it go to the Docks aswell?

Here’s a more detailed plan of the area

As for heading to the docks, well the powers that be, haven’t a plan for the eventual extension of the Luas to the Dublin Docks. With the Docks moving to a new Balbriggan deepwater port with in the next 10 to 20 years, and of course the eventual redevelopment of the area, I just hope the Luas can get around the tower.

Crosbie plans ‘Giant Man’ project as colossal attraction
DEVELOPER HARRY Crosbie has unveiled proposals for a 35m (110ft) high “Giant Man” that will allow visitors to walk around inside and learn about how the human body works.

Mr Crosbie got the idea when he visited Corpus, a similar project at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He bought the licence and has got financial approval for the € 55 million project, which will now be submitted to Dublin City Council for planning permission.

Mr Crosbie said the Giant Man will be one of the centrepieces of the € 850 million Point Village which includes the refurbished and extended 14,000-seater Point theatre, reopening as the O2 in December.

“What the docks need most of all is people and we see this and the new O2 as a giant people-magnet. We want to move the centre of gravity of the city eastwards and down the river.

“We think it would be a phenomenal attraction for young people and there are just not enough tourist attractions in the city. I think we will be able to pull visitors into it in a way nearly to the extent that the Guinness Hop Stores does.”

Visitors will enter the giant’s brain through a lift to the 10th floor. They will then descend down the spinal cord, stopping off at all the major organs on the way to the feet. There will be screens at every turn with information on how the body works.

The project is supported by the Royal College of Surgeons. Its chief executive Michael Horgan said they were “delighted” to be associated with it. Trinity College provost Dr John Hegarty said it had the potential to capture the imagination of the public and “allow tangible interaction with the sciences”. It has also been endorsed by the Ireland Fund. Its chairman, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, said she was proud to be associated with it.

Mr Crosbie said the Giant Man could be built next year if planning permission is granted. He is confident a deal can be done with the council.

“My local councillor is Bertie Ahern – he advises me on matters like this all the time and he’s hugely supportive. Bertie Ahern is my man. Perhaps we could put his face on it, or Bono. Who knows?”

© 2008 The Irish Times

Interesting.

Image http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/images/2008/0705/1215207406481_1.html

eh Bertie is his local Councillor? TD Harry, he’s a TD. Anyway if his face is on it it will have to be supported by a very very brass neck

Drove past the Point site, and the shaft is up to just above ground level. You can see the steel sticking out the top of the shutters (if the gate is open, and you happen to be stuck in traffic!).Shaft’s well under way.

Yes, great and all, that Ireland is building its first tower. But need I remind you what it looks like?

It’s pretty horrendous.. top heavy, bland.. etc.

And we can’t rule out that the tower will be halved in height, or scrapped altogether, due to the recession, regardless of how high the lift shaft is.