Vertigo? U2 tower to be taller

are you sure it’s the watchtower though?

Anger over structure demolition . . . . . .[From this weeks Dublin People]
THE Dublin Docklands Development Authority has been criticised for demolishing a protected structure as part of plans for the new U2 tower.
The old hailing station, on the corner of Sir John Rogerson’s Quay and Britain Quay, was torn down as part of its development plans for the Grand Canal Dock area.
The hailing station was built in 1907 and was used to direct ships as they docked along the quays. Dockers also congregated at the station to seek out potential employment opportunities.
The structure is listed on the Dublin City Council register of protected structures.
However, under the Dublin Docklands Development Act 1997, the Master Plan for the Docklands Area takes precedence over the Dublin City Development Plan including its record of protected structures.
Former Environment Minister, Dick Roche, signed an order before he left office to protect the hailing station by record only.

This means that the only remaining record of the structure is on paper.
The DDDA commissioned Christopher Southgate & Associates to prepare a conservation report on the hailing station.
The report stated: “The Hailing Station is not an architecturally significant building. However, its function is of historical and social significance….”
The report considers the building to be of local significance and recommends conservation by record.
One of the conditions of the demolition was that the footprint of the Hailing Station “be outlined in red brick salvaged from the building and incorporated into the landscape plan insofar as it was consistent with the development of the U2 Tower”.
A spokesman for the heritage council, An Taisce, said they do not approve of the manner in which the hailing station was demolished.
“The hailing station was a significant example of maritime history in the Docklands,” he said.
“The DDDA should be doing all they can to conserve what remains of the area’s past and not wipe it away,” he said.
“The building should be preserved in some form. An Taisce did not approve of the manner in which it was removed from the record of protected structures. There was no consultation or notification with locals or heritage groups.”
Damien Cassidy of the Ringsend Environment Group complained that there was no consultation regarding the demolition.
“At no stage were locals consulted about this,” he claimed.
“The first people knew about the demolition of the hailing station was when we noticed it had disappeared.”
However, a spokeswoman for the DDDA rejected claims that the authority had not adequately consulted with the public and heritage groups on the move.
“What we generally do is put the planning scheme out to all the local communities and anyone who wants to make any submissions then can,” she said.
“We have the same standard process as the city council would use for planning. We advertise the plans in the papers and state that people can come and make submissions.
“We go right into the communities, in community centres, in our own offices and different parts of the city and then we have it [the plans] available on the website as well.
“An Taisce can make submissions on any of our plans as part of the public consultation. As regards the public, we open it as far as we can and the plan was fully available to the public to make submissions on it as well.”

I don’t think its too bad,perhaps a bit asian looking.. hopefully the U2 tower will be better!!if they get around to building the dawn ting

@cubix wrote:

off topic i know but yet another skyscraper approved for London, getting out of control now..

http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/2894

While I’d like to see more high quality high rises in the docklands, this London bullding shows the danger. I think I’d rather our 6 floor stumpy IFSC buildings than that yoke, they’re monotonous but inoffensive/inconspicuous compared with that.

@JoePublic wrote:

While I’d like to see more high quality high rises in the docklands, this London bullding shows the danger. I think I’d rather our 6 floor stumpy IFSC buildings than that yoke, they’re monotonous but inoffensive/inconspicuous compared with that.

I think the Watchtower is as bad as that building TBH

I saw these pics of a similar tower to U2 on another website. The tower is in Sarajevo.

Cant say im supprised but how do you know? It was supposed to be revealved last week who won the tender,

Did anyone hear the discussion on ‘Drivetime’ (RTE Radio 1) on Thursday evening about the Giants Causeway / Heneghen Peng debacle? Some architectural commentator was questioning the value of international architectural competitions in the light of Heneghen Peng’s winning design for a visitor centre at Giants Causeway apparently having been dumped in favour of some private developer design and citing Zaha Hadid’s Cardiff Opera House too.

I wonder if BCDH’s twisting tower will be the next victim of this insidious trend?

Shame on John McLaughlin (DDDA) if this is his legacy!

@GregF wrote:

Anyone see the Dave McWilliams programme on Monday night about the demise of our economy and the ‘Celtic Tiger’ etc….. It showed the gleaming new glass towers and edifices of China and Dubai, shining in the sunshine against a brilliant blue sky and then switched to the Dublin docks of grey skies and insignificant squat block land. Hard to believe there was ever a boom on here by the looks of it 🙁

Lets be realistic here, although the docks has been a missed opportunity in many respects it is far from the finished article.The watchtower and the U2 tower will give a new dimension to this area and other on going projects will bulk up the area.
Dublin is no Dubai or Shanghai and is never going to be.We have had a boom here fair enough but on a world scale it is insignificant. If Irelands economy imploded the world economy wouldnt even blink.Dublin has changed hugely in 20 years for the better but to expect this to compare to Shanghai or Dubai is crazy.

Regarding the U2 tower the delays are incredible.Also anyone know whats happening to the site beside it where contruction has been halted for some timenow?

Yeah cool – if we lived in a dictatorship we could have big glass towers built by borderline slavery.

Yes we had a fast growing economy, but we were coming from borderline bankrupcy so it was a very small base that we were actually growing from (we were catching up with the rest of western Europe anyway) and rate of growth means bugger all when your economy is tiny anyway. Anyone old enough to remember the early 80s will tell you how much Dublin and the economy has changed.