tall buildings
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just want to say that the spire looks fantastic, at last dublin has something higher than liberty hall.
so now, what are the chances of some more tall structures. On the reflectingcity website , there is much mention of tall buildings for the “heuston gateway”, anyone know of developments on this front. Also what has happened to the john rogerson quay building by dunloe ewart, is it going to go ahead. and as for the u2 building how high is it going to be?
does anyone out there know of more tall building/structures which might eventually provide dublin with a much needed skyline!
I think Dublin needs more height. Much more. While I can see an argument for keeping historic areas at an “appropriate” height, areas where significant amount of new development is happening, such as the docklands, shouldn’t be subject to that limit.
Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be happening. Didn’t the former national conference centre have half its height lopped off.
I believe there’s a tallish building planned for over Tara Street station, but I think it’s still no taller than Liberty Hall.
The sky’s the limit, or should be.
James
I agree completely. It would be a crime to tamper with historic areas of the city. However it is not as if there are not alot of brown field sights in and around the city centre (from heuston to the end of the docklands. surely the presence of tall slim well designed structures would only add to dublin.
why also is it the case that it seems to be the minority that are always listened to, when a planning application is submitted. there is always one crackpot?group of busy bodies who put the spanner in the works. Just because one person does not like a building tall or small, is no reson for an bord pleanala to rule against it, surely there should be a quota of objections which should have to be reached before action is taken to stop a structure going ahead?
i believe once we have blown-up ballymun the collective city consciousness will have lost its stigma about high rise. hopefully.
if it was the case that (god forbid), buildings were built to more than the common 5 floors within the docklands and around the heuston area (eg:the guinness store yards), to say 15 or 20 floors, does it not then stand to reson that all the young people of dublin might stand a chance of actually buying somewhere to live.
if a developer can go three or four times higher then there will be a lot more apartments available, with the consequence that supply will be more even to demand = cheaper property.
seems to me that the only ones these good old dubs are fooling by objecting to anything higher than a cardboard box are themselves.
another plus is that it is a lot easier to get people down 20 floors to work in the city centre than it is to get them in from 20+ miles out in the suburbs!
This is a topic which I always rant on about. I agree Dublin needs taller buildings …but not in historical low-rise parts of the city….but in existing open spaces and brownfield sites that offer such opportunities such as Dublin Docklands.
It is ridiculous the way every new building has to adhere and is given the stumpy, lopped off appearance. Tall visually exiciting buildings/structures should be built where they could be appropriate and appreciated, not run of the mill 2/3 storey regular hum drum. Substantial buildings should be the order of the day.
Dublin is a changing city, it should reflect this. It is not a Florence or Venice, which still remain overall, intact cities of the Renaissance. Hopefully the Dublin Spire will set a precedent and change this stupid mindset that exist among the ignorant and frightened.Soo, what exactly has prevented “height” in construction here?
And does this city build underground at all?
Re underground, the whole underground scene of dublin at https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?s=&threadid=514
Prevention of height? In a nutshell: lack of money for many years, and now conservation concerns.
Thats an interesting question: What is the reason behind this irrational fear of tall buildings? Why did they build Liberty Hall and then stop at that?
Paul, thank you for the link back to “underground”. Although I’m tempted to nickname it “gopher people”! Much discussion of tunnels, tunneling, passages, connections between buildings – which is absolutely great.
Yet, I was thinking more of space that functions as additional operational space for businesses or carparks. Not sure what you get when you blast down here – viking horns, sludge, water, solid rock?
In my neighborhood at home, a primarily residential area, there is a lovely, yet out-of-place, wedge shaped office building. It’s about 12 stories tall or so, but has this 6+ floor carpark underneath. You’d never expect it from everything else that is around it. A very tidy use of space!
Originally posted by StephenC
Thats an interesting question: What is the reason behind this irrational fear of tall buildings? Why did they build Liberty Hall and then stop at that?After Liberty Hall, O’Connell Bridge and Hawkins House were built, Concerns were raised as to the height a building could be built so the Corporation introduced a plot:height ratio that killed most tall buildings dead in the water
The one thing I would do in this city if given the chance, above absolutely everything else, is the demolition of O’ Connell Bridge House, I’d do it with my bare hands if offered. It is the most inappropriate building in the city, not necessarily the worst looking, (although it is very bland) but the worst positioned. It’s nothing short of disgraceful, slap bang in the middle of the low rise city centre. And whats best of all, is that it’s developer, John Byrne, had the cheek to propose a twin, mirror image of the building across the road on the site of the now ‘reconstructed’ Ballast Office!
I have a soft spot in my heart (or should that be head) for O’Connell Bridge house – don’t ask me why but it’s very much a part of Dublin – wish they’d reopen its original roof top restaurant though
Lord, now I’ll have to ask about who has a roof I can get on? And I haven’t even finished finding out if there are functional spaces underground. So much to find out…
Why don’t they open these places??? Surely a restaurant/bar would bring in more income for such a building than office space. O’Connell Bridge is on my “gain entry for photographs” list once the weather picks up. That and Georges Quay…
fjp
Even though I hate the place, I also tried to gain access to shoot (with a camera, you’ll understand) O’ Connell Street, but the place is still empty, even Q Bar knew nothing at all about thousands of tons of concrete over their heads. Very mysterious…
Did you suceed??? And I have to say that from some angles I actually like it. The top’s cool, and it looks great from Liberty Hall, but just looks a bit funny from the Quays.
Still though, I’d probably bitch if they tried to take it down…
fjp
(confused)have they still not let that place? it must be at least a year since its refurbishment was finished ? …
It’s not the worst in the world, esp after it’s refurbishment, it is clad in very pricey Portland Stone after all, but still, its the only tall building in the entire ‘real’ city centre, the Grafton Street – College Green – Westmoreland – O’ Connell Bridge/Street axis and destroys the entire character of the area, and dosn’t leave the visitor with the impression of being in an historic low rise city, which Dublin is. (I don’t object to tall buildings in the Docklands)
No, fjp, I did’nt get access, I think a tenant has been aquired recently though, as the big advertisment for it’s letting on the front of the building has come down. When I was there before Christmas, the entrance gates looked closed for months, with piles of rubbish behind them. There was also a boarded up window that had been broken. I had to make do with the Ballast Office (or rather it’s replica) and the 17th floor of Liberty Hall, which was great.
Some facts about O’ Connell Bridge House:
It was built in only 2 years 1963-65, ‘designed’ by the notorious Desmond Fitzgerald (Greg Fs friend)
It cost £1,000,000 to build, an astronomical sum at the time.
It was finished in the same year as Liberty Hall (1961-65), & even though it is substantially lower in height, it contains a lot more floor area.
Over 50 men were kept employed by it’s construction.
It consumed 500 tons of steel, 90 tons of reinforcind bars, and a mere 7,500 tons of concrete, as well as the Portland Stone cladding.
It stands 11 storeys high, towering to 145 feet or 48m, and was taller than Nelson’s Pillar at completion.
At one time, the advertisment on it’s facade earned nearly as much income for it’s owner, John Byrne, as the entire 45,000 sq feet of space inside the building!
Even though at the time, every office bldg was required to have a parking space for every 500sq feet, and O’ Connell Bridge House would have required 90 spaces, this was blatently ignored and so, not only was it built, it was built with no spaces at all!
Planners were bitterly opposed to it’s construction, and the demolition of the existing fine & very grand bldg built by the Wide Streets Commissioners, but it is belived this was waved over because of John Byrne’s long friendship with Charlie Haughey, then Minister for Justice.
An extention was added, hence the demolition of more historic bldgs on D ‘Olier Street in 1968.
The only benifit that Dubliners ever derived from it’s construction, the rooftop restaurant, was closed, just a few years into it’s life, in order to create an office suite for it’s owner on the top floor.
As mentioned before, a mirror image of the building was ludicrously proposed on the site of the Ballast Office, Dublin’s answer to the Twin Towers, to stand guard over O’ Connell Bridge, but was thankfully, firmly rejected this time by planners.
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