South Docks Dublin

There’s certainly a more interesting grain at work on this side of the river

a little better than the north docks anyway imo, which wouldn’t be hard.

The basin peeks through in places alluding to the development going back to Pearse St

Macken St bridge commences

……

Poor aul’ Ferryman – it is dwarved by the new quayside, it also serves as a counterpoint to the relative lack of scale and detailing in the newer buildings

The new side streets are rather more successful than their nothern counterparts. It will be interesting to see how Spencer Dock addresses the commercial and residential transitions

Internationally Renowned Architect Daniel Libeskind Launches Master Plan for Grand Canal Square

Studio Daniel Libeskind has designed a new theatre and two superb new office buildings at Grand Canal Square. The diamond shaped West End-style 2,000 seater theatre is the centrepiece of the scheme, which is currently under construction by Sisk builders and due to be completed by 2010. The theatre is complemented by 380,000 sq ft of adjacent luxury office suites – Number 2, Number 4 and Number 5, Grand Canal Square all arranged around the Marta Schwartz Square. Each office building enjoys its own distinct profile and identity with striking sculptured shapes and a high performance doubled layered glass façade.

Q. Whats the difference between a West End style theatre and a ‘normal’ theatre?

A. Um. . . one sounds better on a press release?

Reminds me of a big bus terminal for some reason

whatever about the office block, which is vaguely more interesting than some of its neighbours lining the quays … the reflective glazing & pattern of the theatre looks pretty crap, any full scale renders of libeskind’s dublin effort as part of this press release ?

@Peter FitzPatrick wrote:

whatever about the office block, which is vaguely more interesting than some of its neighbours lining the quays … the reflective glazing & pattern of the theatre looks pretty crap, any full scale renders of libeskind’s dublin effort as part of this press release ?

I don’t think that glazing belongs to the threatre – it’s another office building at the back

Click around this website for various pics
http://grandcanalsquare.ie/about/libeskind.html

To be fair this whole scheme is a cut above the rest of what Dublin has gotten so far.

Thanks for the link … fairly sure it is the theatre, glazed protrusion from main building on render below.
Agreed that the entire scheme is a cut above whats gone before.

Had a ramble around here yesterday and the whole Grand Canal Basin area looks as if there is some big money being spent. This little enclave is an oasis. Some sexy glass buildings about, the Libeskind theatre will be a great focal point when finished.

Would be great if they could have a pedestrian link into Pearse Square, an overlooked gem smack bang in the city centre.

Im quite sure the residents would have something to say about that!

They would indeed. Though you could leave it open park hours only and close up once it gets dark.

You’d have to break the whole unfiformaity of the square though if you were to break through from Macken Street. There were plans for a development at the bottom corner of the square a couple of years back linking thorugh to Macken Street.

The libeskind proejct is truly awful…… This has very few qualities that would warrant the title urban…

@StephenC wrote:

You’d have to break the whole unfiformaity of the square though if you were to break through from Macken Street. There were plans for a development at the bottom corner of the square a couple of years back linking thorugh to Macken Street.

The garage site in the NE corner of the square (where there was the redevelopment plan) already breaks the continuity of the square – a link could and should be provided here.

Does anybody know if the IDA centre on Pearse Street is likely to be redeveloped? I thought I read something about it a while ago but can’t quite remember what the proposal was. It’s a real eye sore and I’m sure the businesses could be accomodated elsewhere with relative ease. Would be a fantastic site for development to complement what’s going on nearby.

Which buildings are they? This is the only major redevelopment planned for area that I can think of that is IDA related.

Trinity to seek partner to redevelop key docklands site

The TCD Enterprise Centre on almost five acres is set to become a major city quarter in its own right, writes Jack Fagan

One of the last substantial sites in Dublin’s south inner city looks set to be redeveloped as Trinity College prepares to embark on a joint venture with a private developer.

The TCD Enterprise Centre covers almost five of the six acres between Macken Street, Pearse Street, Grand Canal Quay and the Dart line, and when redeveloped is likely to have well in excess of 92,903sq m (1 million sq ft) of academic research buildings, offices, retail facilities and apartments.

Even before TCD has an opportunity to formally embark on the huge project, a half-acre site near the centre of the Enterprise Centre and fronting onto Grand Canal Harbour goes on the market today.

Campion Property Consultants is seeking what it calls “a reasonable offer” for the extensive warehouse but has indicated that the owners, the Jordan family who for years supplied crockery to the hotel industry, will also consider a joint venture with “an experienced and asset-rich partner”.

An adjoining building owned by the Connaghton family is the only other property in the area not under the control of TCD. The businessman Denis O’Brien owns the Esat office block on the edge of the site fronting onto Grand Canal Quay.

All sides agree that the city planners will probably insist on an overall development plan for the site of almost six acres rather than allow individual owners to decide what they want to develop.

Whoever acquires the Jordan warehouse will have a right of way through much of the Enterprise Centre and so will probably have a voice in what happens to the remainder of the land.

TCD’s director of buildings, Paul Mangan, said this week that the college was “exploring the possibility of developing the centre” to accommodate academic research and innovation activities within the terms of the 999-year lease of the Enterprise Centre from the IDA.

TCD’s strategy will be to bring in a developer who will be allowed to retain part of the site for his own use once he has handed over newly completed academic buildings to the college. TCD plans to double the number of postgraduate students in the coming years. With Treasury Holdings already building a 16-storey apartment tower at the junction of Grand Canal Quay and Pearse Street, it is questionable whether the planners will also allow TCD to proceed with a tower block along the same corner of the Enterprise Centre. But the overall site is undoubtedly suitable for a number of high rise buildings, though the vast majority will probably be restricted to about eight storeys in line with other blocks in the area.

Because the Enterprise Centre is based in the docklands, a planning application can be made either to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority or Dublin City Council. However, Paul Mangan says the college has “a good track record and reputation” with the city council which handled the planning permission for a new building nearing completion on the Pearse Street end of the college campus. The Enterprise Centre is “the last piece of development owned by the college and, if we let it go, we have nowhere left for expansion”, he says.

There are currently about 50 tenants renting accommodation in the Enterprise Centre, the vast majority of them on a week-to-week basis.

A study commissioned by TCD in 2001 and carried out by UK architects Ahrends Burton & Koralek recommended the building of a 20-storey office tower with a footprint of 6,000sq m (64,583sq ft) at the junction of Pearse Street and Macken Street. The firm said it would mark the principal point of entry to the Enterprise Centre and provide a visual link with the main college campus. Investigations showed that it would not be visible from key historical city areas.

The architects also recommended a generous daylight concourse which would connect the main entrance to other principal components of the scheme and provide a social hub to the Enterprise Centre. A line of buildings along Pearse Street varying in height from six to seven storeys was also suggested with shops and restaurants at street level. The architects also looked at the scope for a “matrix” of blocks along much of the central part of the site, a building of five to seven storeys beside the Esat block on Grand Canal Quay and a residential tower of about 15 storeys near the north-eastern corner.

© 2007 The Irish Times

Pretty sure that’s the site he’s on about – fantastic opp for that site given the usage is mostly single & 2 storey at present

Yes, the very same -huge potential here.

Cleaning my desk over the weekend, I found these photos of the docks taken in late 1995 as I was writing my thesis on Busaras. Taken from the top of Liberty Hall.

Great pictures, thanks, Have you any more from that time? (Pre IFSC)

@igy wrote:

Great pictures, thanks, Have you any more from that time? (Pre IFSC)

A few on FJP’s site:

(c) FJP

(c) FJP