well what about the developments popping up in the shannonside ?

EML architects were responsible for the design of Cruises Street, as far as i know.

@Irishjon25 wrote:

This is The Unicorn today.

Minus the pool table 🙁

Oh thanks for the pics Irishjon, it’s so nice to actually “see” the old place again!:) It does look nice.

Pity about the pool table though eh? That’s too bad:(

@vkid wrote:

There’s a good image on the front of the Leader today but i’ve no scanner. Lots of tall/glassy/shiny buildings
Main points are
– New civic and cultural center with European style open spaces including a floating concert arena(?), swimming baths, waterways center, pedestrian bridge and water features
– A new high rise business district at Bishops Quay to compliment The Riverpoint
– A new city village with redevelopment of the Watergate flats area and redesign of the Milk Market area
– A retail district to include the demolition of the Cruises street area
– Full Georgian city regeneration with the development of winter gardens and quality mews at the rear of buildings with high quality residential in the upper 2 floors and basements with retail/office on ground and first floors

Will be no loss to see the back of Sarsfield house. It is planned to be replaced by a glass tower based loosely on the idea of the Beetham tower in Manchester.
Seems this all could be part of the earlier talk of demolishing the Pennys/Debenhams/Arthurs Quay/Liddy Street area’s and now also includes the Cruises street area. I assume the opera Center will be worked in there somehow.
Interesting to see new(ish) structures like Arthurs Quay and Cruises Street being demolished..all less than 20 years old. Same with the Savoy in recent times. 80’s developments were never pretty in Limerick anyway so no loss imo.

Interesting stuff alright…hmmm… Is this all just a proposal, or what? You mentioned Sarsfield House… Is this the building directly behind Arthurs Quay? Wasn’t it a tax office, or something like that? Now that is one ugly building so I hope this is the one you’re talking about here!? For sure, Sarsfield House will be no loss! If they’re planning on putting a building “based loosely” on the Beetham Tower in Manchester will it be of similar height? I believe the Beetham Tower is something like 48-50 storeys, right? The Beetham Tower is not a beautiful building by any means, but it is an interesting building alright. I think the Hilton Hotel group have a branch there, and it’s also residential. It would be very nice indeed if they put a tower somewhere on this scale down there… now that would raise a few eyebrows eh?:D

Cruises Street will be no loss either, I mean, lets face it, it has never worked! It hasn’t lasted 20 years and it’s ready for the chop already! And they demolished a 200-year-old hotel for this!:mad: Stupid arseholes!!!:mad:

Yes, a new high rise business district would be very chic indeed! If it’s done right of course. That’s a really good idea actually.:)

A floating concert arena? Where? Well, it does sound nice…on a quite evening out and all that…but I just can’t see Metallica ripping into Master of Puppets down there, can you?:D Now don’t get me wrong, I do think it’s a very nice idea… but I would absolutely love to see a proper full size concert arena in Limerick City. Ask yourself, when any international acts come to Ireland, where do they play? It’s always Dublin, right? When they come to England they go all over the place i.e London, Manchester, Birmingham, etc. So, why not Limerick? If Limerick City could build something fitting of international acts then it would be just amazing! Think of the boost to local businesses it would/could make in the city centre alone i.e Hotels, B+Bs, food outlets, bars, nightclubs, etc, etc. And why not? It can be done! They need to think outside of the box, bigger and better and look at the real picture here! As tfarmer said in his post, Dolans as the only place where bands can come and play in Limerick City is just not good enough! He’s so right!

@Tuborg wrote:

Anyone know when these two photos were taken?

Is Matthew Stephens the place where they put that big stupid window? Next to Easons? :confused:

Does anyone know anything about this floating arena? Whats the technology behind it?

@Tuborg wrote:

Its just a very vague idea at the moment with no hard information on it, there isnt even a mention of a possible location yet! Its probably just pie in the sky stuff!

Its probably just a man made island with a big shiny concert dome on the top of it. The best place to put it would be smack bang right in the middle of the docklands yard where the ships come in. It would look great from the point of view of people approaching from the north circular road.

@tfarmer wrote:

Something like this i think would be a prefect location for it.

Interesting alright tfarmer… but I’d still rather see a boating Marina and real luxury apartments there. It’s just perfect for it! That way people can really enjoy the experience of living on the Shannon all year round, don’t you think? I’m very much in favour of a concert arena for the city centre but not on the water! Surely there are enough adequate plots within the city centre itself to put such a potentially fantastic project!?

@CologneMike wrote:

Absolute Hotel

Some views of the nearly finished Absolute Hotel (Abbey river). The boardwalk was getting it’s final touches during the week. I presume it is a public way (see blue arrows) and access under the Abbey bridge will re-open when work is completed. A foot bridge from here to Groove island / canal bank would work well here.

Sorry to burst your bubble CologneMike but The Absolute Hotel has been open since February/March. I was there for a meal in April.

Marriott Hotel – Savoy Complex

Before I get another bubble burst, the Hotel is opened and work-in-progress on the retail units is quite advanced. The façade to the Marriott is very attractive and gives this part of the city a little cosmopolitan feel to it. The restored warehouse and the Hotel side by side are quite a contrast!

The lane at the rear of the hotel has great potential for development (Shannon Street). The garden feature on the third floor is done very well. Image 5 and 6 taken at the junction of Bedford Row. I think both the Savoy complex and the Harvey’s Quay complex across the road complement each other.