Shopfront race to the bottom

Yes that does colour matters considerably, Punchbowl.

But even on an objective basis, I think this frontage has considerable panache: an elegance that is let down, if not virtually obscured, by a tatty decorative appearance. Of course one could not advocate such a use of aluminium today, not least as has been demonstrated, it doesn’t appear to last without considerable retreatment or renewal. And the material is not fashionable to the contemporary eye. Just as the use of bronze or brass in shop fronts is considered passé, doesn’t mean we ditch it, especially where a material is as inoffensively used as on West’s frontage. Indeed the pilasters are positively regal – much better detailed than the dross we commonly get today.

Full agreed on that utterly hideous green; it makes this one of the most unbearable buildings in the capital to look at. But just imagine the upper elevations painted a soft cream, with windows and reveals in a dark buff shade (Conservation Code #567841), complemented by a slick new narrow fasica with crisp mounted lettering. The sultry shop front (spruced up a notch) would look simply fabulous. No contest.

@GrahamH wrote:

1/3/2010

I see Costa’s new café on the corner of Dawson Street and Molesworth Street has shut down exactly one year since it opened (my, how time flies).

(March 2009)
.

I was walking past the closed Costa café and now its all boarded up with white boards. The dragon stone is gone as well. It looks very forlorn.

While I was on my jaunt, it did strike me how shoddy some shopfronts are. They’re covered with stickers, unneccessary paraphernalia, gaudy signs and the like. Do retailers think we’re completely blind that we wouldn’t know there were shops there without all the clutter?

Ah Golden Pilasters. There’s a breakfast cereal in that yet!

Part of another 1960s-era shop front survives nearby. This contemporary snapshot of what looks to be a southside shop front, with a thin veneer of po-faced, applique neoclassicim characteristic of the swashbuckling early Haughey Dublin, seems like Switzers.

So it was. One would imagine that all of this would be long removed following the onslaught of Marks and Spencer, but not entirely so. A little fragment of the ensemble survives on Duke Lane.

The surviving vent underneath the above panel suggests this is the same elevation as depicted in the above newsreel shot. The Ionic-columned entrance, complete with uniformed doorman, as barely evident to the extreme left in the first picture, has since vanished. I’d often wondered if Duke Lane was once much more prominent than it is now – would that be the case? If the Grafton Arcade was around back then, it would explain matters.

Perhaps the architect of the above lived out in Rathmines. The arch-headed panels are vagurely reminicent of that curious pair of iced Victorian houses off Mountpleasant Avenue 🙂

The reason for the closure of the store is not entirely clear

I’m glad someone has a sense of humour. Have you ever been inside West’s? In fact, has anyone ever been inside West’s? Retailing on Graton Street has changed a little in the last 50 years. A jewellers with a locked door in to which prospective customers cannot see, fronted by a dated aluminium pastiche exterior is doomed to failure. My only surprise is that it made it this far.

You just have to face up to the fact you have a naff planning department; I’d love to hear one of them defending their record. ‘Temporary’ should mean about six weeks.

Just wrote a long analysis of why I am so disgusted with Dublin Tourism – including four citations where they have been expressly barred from erecting advertising on this structure. When I think of the amount of effort I put into enforcement.. 😡 ..(blood boiling…)

However Microsoft Internet Explorer has just crashed on me twice now…losing content…that I am beginning to think that it might have something to do with Dublin Tourisms Chair!! (Google it)

In the meantime – when you get this ^^^ being done by state bodies; is it ANY suprise that we get this on Grafton St….

I don’t mind the self-contained glass display units on the inner wall of the arcade. They don’t interfere with the design integrity of the church on the streetscape, while (in theory) allowing for a minimal street presence for the occupant. Alas, they appear to be used as little more than advertising revenue generators, rather than serving as objective information panels. Which comes as no surprise. The railing panels are an abomination. Which also comes as no surprise from Dublin Tourism. I invite anyone to go inside and take on the daunting challenge of finding out a scrap of information about the city. You might as well be walking into Carroll’s of Westmoreland Street. An absolute scandal. The place exists to line the pockets of its concessions and to tell tourists how to get out of the city. But everyone has known this for years – no point wasting breath on it.

Over on Dawson Street, the former Costa premises has finally been replaced by another, higher class, coffee outfit. Priding themselves on a quality product and a quality service, this place has admirable notions, if not quite in relation to the planning process. Incredibly, unbelievably, in spite of the fuss surrounding the previous occupant and the refusal of permission for all of their external clutter, this operator hasn’t applied for planning permission either!

Yes their signage is more muted, better designed, and their various accoutrements less obtrusive, but planning is planning. After many months of preparing and fitting out this store, it is truly remarkable they have not seen fit to apply for permission for their external alterations. And for what it’s worth, while their new signage is a decent stab at a fresh statement, at the end of the day, a sticky-up board frankly is not of sufficient design standard for this supposedly prestigious retail area. Not from a prissy conservation standpoint, but from a good design standpoint. A sign mounted on such a large expanse of wall demands a high relief, sculptural quality – not a laser-cut. flat-pack solution. Standards in this area of the city – deserving of a thread of its own – have been plmutting through the floor in recent years. Like the rest of the city centre, it’s getting close to a free-for-all out there, with nobody steering the ship.

Inside, the flooring is just exquisite – beautiful tiles set in panels of dark timber. What a striking combination.

Similarly, the ceilings are fresh and elegant, the lighting sharp and the counter set-up innovative.

Less successful are the overly high partition walls clad in lavatory-like mosaic. They lend a clinical quality to the room, while obliterating one of the principal activities conducted in coffee places – watching other people buy coffee, and the frenetic activity that comes with it. Especially on a Sunday – what modicum of life that stirs in the place is hidden. Not good for the image. The mosaic is also too busy, clashing with the already frenzied floor. Timber would have been nicer.

It’ll be interesting to see how the place trades anyway. The service is superb, the coffee the second best in Dublin, and the rocky roads even better than the surface of Dawson Street.

Exposed again 😮

:p