well what about the developments popping up in the shannonside ?
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@lexington wrote:
Took a right good look around Riverpoint yesterday – my first time since construction was complete and I have to say it looks great! If ever there was an advocate for considered high-rise, I think the Limerick quays display it aptly. Michael Daly (Fordmount Properties) and BKD seem to have drawn on American influences for the tower element, nonetheless it is well suited – I’m even happier to know that’s its use is predominantly office based rather than residential. I arrived at Riverpoint just as sunset and the building certainly came it to its own reflecting not only the river, but the multitude of golds, blues, greens and dusky greys provided by the fading sunlight of the evening sky. I wonder will the 10-storey element to the east detract from the tower’s impact however?
Well done to all involved and well done Limerick.
That looks brilliant !! Well done to everyone in Limerick 🙂 Will this mean that the building skyline will increase to be in line with this new development ? It looks great btw:)
Actually the renderings don’t really do it justice. It looks much better “in the flesh” and actually is well scaled for the site; most views of it will be from across (or along) a large expanse of water and it has surprisingly little visual impact on the rest of the city.
Other impressions of Limerick, while I was there for a while over Christmas:
The lights on O’Connell St were very beautiful.
The standard of footpaths and other street fittings is generally quite poor. Maybe the Bedford row work will improve standards.
Despite the competition from suburban shopping centres, the city centre is still pretty vibrant place for shopping. There is still a need for more modern (i.e. large) units in the centre but hopefully the Savoy and Henry St. development will provide some.
There is a problem with litter in parts. Things has improved but it is still noticable.So all in all – a big thimbs sideways from you jimg! Have to agree with you on a number of points, nice job on the lights on O’Connell St. – the overall state of the footpaths does create a fairly unloved look about the place – however I imagine that the city council are waiting til the Shannon Tunnel is complete before embarking with their extensive plans for improving the streetscape in 2009. Bedford Row and Baker Place are just test runs in this regard.
Have to agree too that there does seem to be a new found energy in the city city centre in recent years which will only become more evident as new developments come on stream. I can only hope the qualtiy of design improves drastically soon before it’s all finished. Counted at least twelve tower cranes in the city centre during Christmas and the height of the two on the old Jurys site seem to indicate that what ever is planned is going to be relatively tall, although the model of the scheme that was on display in Jury’s before it was knocked didn’t include any tower element – as far as I recall.
It’s a pity that the areas further away from the river are lagging behind – Upper William St. and Parnell St. in particular have a large number of vacant premises and “to let” signs.
Is there anyone else who thinks riverpoint is receiving a god deal more praise than it merits, on this thread? That image from BKD is a little more attractive than the reality in my opinion, but will have to come back with a few photos in a couple of weeks to make the point.
As for the proposed new shopping centre on Patrick St. – called the planning dep’t before Christmas with a view towards taking a look at it during the holidays – was told that the council would be open for business on thursday 30/12 but there was no sign of life there when i called in. Not impressed! and won’t be around to see it before the deadline for observation etc. runs out. The planning notices on the actual site indicate that Quins pub is to be renovated, which isn’t a bad thing. However the amount of demolition proposed for Parick St. is a bit scary. Don’t know much about the buildings in that area and some of the them are in pretty bad shape – original Georgian facades on the lower floors of some of them have disappeared entirely and can only be described as nasty. They all have plaques from the Civic trust on them though indicating some signifiacant links to the past – why couldn’t a portion of the 200 million investent be devoted to restoring this street? As for the name – the Opera Centre? there might be a connection with the Dundrum Centre – where piped classical music is played in the “urban square” to indicate the CLASSy nature of the surroundings, couldn’t make out the civic trust plaques which may suggest some connection. I certainly hope the designers/ developer provide us with something more interesting than Dundrum whatever happens . Also noticed on the site notices that an environmental impact statement has been submitted as part of the planning application, but there was no mention of the fact that the development involved protected buildings – does anyone know what that’s about? If there is no mention of protected structures which are involved in the proposal surely the whole application is invalid?
The plan for the Opera centre is to keep the facades of much of Patrick Street and Ellen Street, which is good I suppose. I’m not a massive fan of the proposed walk way to the car park on Denamrk Street,
Why is it called the Opera Centre (a least unofficially)? The building called Williams Stores on Patrick street was the birthplace of a famous opera singer apparently, and as such, it is listed. Part of the plan is to renovate/restore this building and open it to the public, not sure in what capacity though.
I guess theres just no pleasing some people eh Shane;) , i suppose it will all depend on how we feel about it in 10 or 20 years time, hopefully it will age well, in all fairness though i think its a massive improvement on the rest of the buildings we’ve seen on the quays in recent years,most of em are pretty forgettable!
@ShaneP wrote:
the overall state of the footpaths does create a fairly unloved look about the place – however I imagine that the city council are waiting til the Shannon Tunnel is complete before embarking with their extensive plans for improving the streetscape in 2009. Bedford Row and Baker Place are just test runs in this regard.
The paving on o connell street is pretty abysmal, very, very dull, it looks desperate on a dreary day, its frustrating that work wont begin until phase 2 of the ring road is finished but hopefully it’ll give the planners more time to come up with a proper masterplan, one that is fitting for such an important thouroghfare. The Shannon tunnel is scheduled to start in the spring, i wouldnt be at all surprised if thats pushed back until the autumn, its quite a complex route, a lot of difficult terrain to negotiate, including bunlicky lake, theres also a major interchange on the cork road at rossbrien, it will be at least 3 years in construction which means that it’ll probably be another 5 years before we see a new o connell street,:eek: , lets hope it’ll be worth the wait!
@ShaneP wrote:
Counted at least twelve tower cranes in the city centre during Christmas and the height of the two on the old Jurys site seem to indicate that what ever is planned is going to be relatively tall, although the model of the scheme that was on display in Jury’s before it was knocked didn’t include any tower element – as far as I recall.
I remember seeing a model of the scheme in a local business magazine a few months back and that did show a tower in the plans,it was to be around the 12 storey mark but i think one of the conditions the council attached was for it to be scaled back to 10 storeys.There also seemed to be a smaller tower of around 6 or 8 floors(presumably for the apartments), theres also plans for a number of retail units and an underground carpark. Its pretty poor that no plan of the scheme can be found online,especially because of its prominent location:(
I see the clarion are to manage the former ardhu ryan hotel on the ennis road, its still in the course of redevelopment and mystery has surrounded the whole project, a plan for high density apartments on the site was rejected last year, anyone got any info on what plans they have for the hotel?
[/QUOTE]I’ve finally managed to get hold of some drawings of the strand hotel development, turns out it seriously wasnt worth the wait, i think its awful, hugely dissapointing compared to the just completed riverpoint tower, why they couldnt have taken inspiration from that and kicked on is anyones guess!. The building on the ennis road side(on the right) has the potential to become the 21st century version of munchins house (which has now been completely levelled thankfully!) Is this the hotel?, its not very clear, judging by the number of balconies on the other building i pressume that is going to be the apartment complex. The use of mock georgian brickwork in Limerick is reaching epidemic proportions, it looks so tacky here, its a terrible contrast with the other material which is undoubtedly cheap white cladding, how these cheap, featureless buildings get through the planning process ill never know!, This gets a serious thumbs down, shocking!:mad:
Hmm Tuborg, reading boards.ie again? However I agree with you, this development is shocking, absolutely awful and yet another wasted chance for Limerick. Clearly innovation isn’t prized highly by apsiring architects in this country.
It’s difficult to say too much about that image, not much information in it – bit indifferent to it myself. Where did it come from Tuborg? Do you know who’s designing it?
i dont think it looks too bad. it could be alot worse i think the building on the right looks great, theres alot fo glass and i think it gives a nice good looking modern look. i dont get the building on the left if it was like the one on the right everything would be grand but i dont get why they are putting a brick face on it, it looks like as if its half completed and is just waiting for the white and glass to take over it.
overall i really like the building on the right but the building on the left is questionable, sure its only drawing it could come out much nicer than it looeks there.
also tuborg i dont get how you want it to compare to riverpoint, i think your setting your standards a bit too high tbh. just because we have riverpoint doesnt mean that you should compare every new building too it. all in all i think it looks good (except that brick bit) and it looks fairly tall too and i think it will be a good addition to that side of the river.
oh sorry for double posting but i heard from a friend that the shannon tunnel is to begin construction in march, he said it was on 95 fm all week.
I’m sorry Limerick Guy, but when has “it could be a lot worse” ever been an acceptable standard of design? the riverfront is already badly served by the old Dunnes, Pier One buildings, this is just another example of lazy, cheap design,
all im saying is that there are alot worse fairly new bulidnings out there. such as the county council offices beside the crescent or is it the city council? im not sure but who ever designed that building should be shot
I assume your’e talking about the Limerick County Council Offices by Bucholz McEvoy – one of the most interesting and environmentally innovative buildings completed in Ireland in recent times. Just a pity about it’s context, cast adrift amidst the very worst of commercial tin box architecture….
@BTH wrote:
I assume your’e talking about the Limerick County Council Offices by Bucholz McEvoy – one of the most interesting and environmentally innovative buildings completed in Ireland in recent times. Just a pity about it’s context, cast adrift amidst the very worst of commercial tin box architecture….
Does it help to lift the area? Maybe it’ll set an example to future development out there but that’s probably being optimistic!
Why Limerick county council would want their hq in Limerick City suburbs is another story. Why not Newcastlewest. They might as well have left them in Limerick city as move them where they are. No doubt there’s more parking in the suburbs.
As a matter of interest what happened to the old County Council buildings in the city (Georgian buildings near the Cresent)
Ah Limerick county’s love/hate relationship with the city resurfaces. There is several suitable towns that could have benefitted from the county offices being relocated there, and it would have alleviated some pressures on the city’s infrastructure. However since the county continues to encircle the city with badly serviced suburb after suburb, it’s clear that county/city divide is growing more fictional by the day. It’s inevitable that eventually the cityside country suburbs (raheen, castletroy etc) will eventually be as highly populated as the actual city itself, and in that sense it makes some ludacrious sense to base the county offices right on the city county border. The lunacy of this course would be hilarious if it wasn’t negatively affecting the region. The simple truth (imo) is that too many county officials want the perks that come with living/working in the city while actually technically in the county. It was an admirably short-sighted decision by the council, remarkable only in it’s incompetence.
Its good to see most people have a bit of sense on this site, the design of the new strand hotel is a disgrace and totally out of character with the rest of the buildings in this area!,anyone who thinks otherwise are just kidding themselves, no wonder we have such mediocre developments cropping up if thats the attitude some people have! i know the pic isnt the best, i found it on altavisata shane,its a image search engine, that was all i could find on the web, no decent plans of the exact layout of the site or anything, i dont think the strand even have a website, its just very dissapointing that they can get away with such an unimaginative design in such a prominent location, somebody’s obviously not doing their job properly in city hall!By the way Maskhadov, the development has started,its been going on for around 2 months at this stage, supposedly due to open in late 2006/early 2007,cant see it myself but i spose seen as it looks like its basically made from lego we should’nt be surprised!
@justnotbothered wrote:
Hmm Tuborg, reading boards.ie again?
Also justnotbothered i dont know what you’re getting at here, i’ve never even heard of boards.ie, would you like to explain this comment?
Great to see the discussion getting more lively! I’d still hold off on making judgement on the Strand hotel – Tuborg. One vague image, which might not even reflect the final idea of the scheme is not sufficient to judge the whole thing, in my opinion. What is going on in plan or section? There could be a new street running through the scheme (just a guess from looking) which would definately be a welcome change from the surroundings on that side of the river. And whats so bad about useing red or brown brick in a modern building, there’s plenty of great examples all over the country, and when seen in combination with nearby trees creates a very pleasing effect. I have to admit that the image creates the appearance of a fairly fussy project but it’s a bit early to write it off.
In reference to the comments on County Hall. I’m not a big fan of the building myself but more because of what it represents rather than the design (although there’s plenty to fault as well as praise in that department too) It’s still one of the most significant buildings to grace the mid west in recent years. Justnotbothered is right about locating it in a county town – Croom would have been my preference. Anyways Limerick Guy, before you go off shooting architects you might justify such drastic action – by what criteria do judge buildings? is every retails park, suburban housing estate, petrol station, warehouse etc that has sprang up in the last few decades, better than county hall n if so why? Anyway there’s little point in advocating the shooting of architects, there’ll always be 20 more to take their place and eventually an innocent bystander will get caught up in the action!
@Tuborg wrote:
Its good to see most people have a bit of sense on this site, the design of the new strand hotel is a disgrace and totally out of character with the rest of the buildings in this area!,anyone who thinks otherwise are just kidding themselves, no wonder we have such mediocre developments cropping up if thats the attitude some people have! i know the pic isnt the best, i found it on altavisata shane,its a image search engine, that was all i could find on the web, no decent plans of the exact layout of the site or anything, i dont think the strand even have a website, its just very dissapointing that they can get away with such an unimaginative design in such a prominent location, somebody’s obviously not doing their job properly in city hall!By the way Maskhadov, the development has started,its been going on for around 2 months at this stage, supposedly due to open in late 2006/early 2007,cant see it myself but i spose seen as it looks like its basically made from lego we should’nt be surprised!
Also justnotbothered i dont know what you’re getting at here, i’ve never even heard of boards.ie, would you like to explain this comment?
Surely City Hall can only deal with the developments that come before it. Can they actually reject a building because it is unimaginative? I mean if it ticks all the boxes ( I know these are minimal) then I suppose it can grant permission and maybe recommend alterations, If there was some area plan in place for the riverside with this critical location earmarked for a landmark building (a much over used phrase these days I agree) then they could reject it on the grounds that it is too boring but otherwise they can only deal with what comes before them. Hopefully buildings like Riverpoint will raise the bar of projects and we’ll get better developmens. Would we have seen Riverpoint if the Clarion had’nt been built first. But I do agree the proposed Strand Hotel is bland.
One thing that City Hall IS responsible for is the disgraceful spread of PVC windows in Georgian Limerick but that’s another story…….
Sorry Tuborg, I must be mistaken, there’s a thread in the Limerick section of http://www.boards.ie on new developments in Limerick City Centre, the day before you posted on the strand a poster on boards referred to the new Strand project as a possible new Munchins house, I assumed you were echoing his sentiments. The website for the strand is http://www.thestrandlimerick.com, but I wouldn’t call it comprehensive. Sorry for any offence.
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