well what about the developments popping up in the shannonside ?

@iomanaiocht wrote:

Firstly, great to finally see the publication of ‘An Introduction ot the Architectural Heritage of Limerick City’, published by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. A profusely illustrated volume it adds significantly to our knowledge of the archtiectural heritage of the city and should be an excellent guide for planners, developers and the interested public.

Good to hear that the NIAH have finally brought it to print!

Secondly, a colleague of mine who checked the plans of the Opera Centre in the planning section of Limerick Council is enthused with the proposals: sections of which he copied for my examination.

What are the proposals for the main thoroughfare between the main entrance of Patrick/Ellen Street and that with Bank Place (Cahill May Roberts)? How much natural light will the passageways get i.e. are the overhead passageway roofs made of glass? Have you any sketches, images or artist impressions to post?

@vkid wrote:

interestingly this line appeared in a previous article in the same paper..

But Joe Clarke, manager of Trinity Rooms, said they would be delighted to be part of the Opera Centre, which he believes will breathe more life into the city centre, and confirmed that they will not be forced to find another venue for the club.

Obviously not getting what they want..

Its a fairly strange one alright. The owners of trinity rooms must have been fully aware of the proposals if they were confident enough to come out and say “they will not be forced to find another venue for the club.” The trinity rooms mainly occupies the bottom floor of an office block, built as part of the restoration of the granary in the 1980s. A part of the club is also housed within the stone warehouse itself.

Unfortunately we still havent seen the complete application but you would imagine its a fairly simple case of the building either being totally demolished, partially demolished or not demolished at all. I cant understand where the confusion is coming from. There are a number of other businesses operating out of that building aswell, including thr Limerick City Library and Shannon Development. I wonder have they been consulted? The City Library were on record earlier on this year saying that they hadnt been informed of any plans that would affect their premises!:confused: Sometimes you get the impression that this isnt being done as professionally as it should be!

@Tuborg wrote:

Its a fairly strange one alright. The owners of trinity rooms must have been fully aware of the proposals if they were confident enough to come out and say “they will not be forced to find another venue for the club.” The trinity rooms mainly occupies the bottom floor of an office block, built as part of the restoration of the granary in the 1980s. A part of the club is also housed within the stone warehouse itself.

Unfortunately we still havent seen the complete application but you would imagine its a fairly simple case of the building either being totally demolished, partially demolished or not demolished at all. I cant understand where the confusion is coming from. There are a number of other businesses operating out of that building aswell, including thr Limerick City Library and Shannon Development. I wonder have they been consulted? The City Library were on record earlier on this year saying that they hadnt been informed of any plans that would affect their premises!:confused: Sometimes you get the impression that this isnt being done as professionally as it should be!

The city library and others are there on a lease and I heard a few years back that the leases were due to renewal in a few years anyway,

Upper William – O’Callaghan Enterprises

Limerick Post (Page 64)

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Hmmm…….. after Pat Whelans 17 Storey Clarion, Michael Dalys 15 Storey Riverpoint, now Tom O’Callaghan has sights on a 18 Storey high rise. It is good to see someone developing this part of town, but a proposed tower for this location would the ruin the city’s skyline here. Place it on the riverfront.

Architects: Architecture53Seven

justnotbothered:

Certainly that area of the city needs some work, and many of the buildings need fixed up or indeed replaced. However, the area does have distinct character and it would just turn into a soulless series of tunnels between apartment blocks if the development is just crude money-making. I think in that area of the city any buildings replaced should be replaced by the kind of simple buildings built on Wickham street recently. The kind of buildings in a lot of towns in Ireland – they are new and have apartments etc. but do not jar with the remaining old style buildings.

There’s plenty of other areas in the city for high-rise.

An 18 storey tower at the junction of Upper William Street / Gerald Griffin Street in my opinion would be negative for the city’s skyline. Why? Well the city’s districts are characterised by their historical evolution.

The English Town has generally a 3-4 storey skyline and is dominated by the King John’s Castle and St Mary’s Cathedral.

The Irish Town has also generally a 3-4 storey skyline and is here dominated by St John’s Cathedral. Don’t forget that St John’s Cathedral would be only 300 metres or so away 🙁 from this proposed 18 storey tower, thus this new building would visually detract somewhat from the spire.

The New Town Pery, where the city centre streets in general have been well served to date by a uniform building height of 4-5 storeys on a grid system. Take for example the view of O’Connell Street from the Crescent to the Rutland Street. You would see how just two 7-8 storey buildings (AIB and George Hotel) can spoil the whole street’s skyline.

Upper William Street also lies on a noticeable higher elevation than the riverfront, thus giving a high rise there an even more extra scale in height to it.

The Riverfront on the quays where once old warehouses stood and running in the direction of the docks is the start of a new city expansion characterised to date by 4 to 17 storey offices and apartments. The riverfront can accommodate high rise buildings very well due to the wide open space of the river onto which they face.

Where is the open wide street space for it to face onto on Upper William Street?

Below the nearby St. John’s Cathedral.

Ah jesus wouldnt you at least try and get the name of the place right, its St Johns Cathedral btw!:rolleyes:

Are you honestly trying to class St Johns as highrise? I could be wrong here but I dont think they set out to build Irelands first skyscraper back in the 1850s, It looks like a Cathedral to me anyway!

But if the building is stunning in architecture then it would be fantastic!

You certainly are optimistic, I’ll give you that but just what do you think are the chances of something architecturally “stunning” being devised here, Id say pretty much zero.

People missed point on the Cork Tower, how come that tower does not have a negative impact on the city there, when it’s actually built fairly close to the heart of the city. It’s actually taller than this proprosal. The Cork tower is located on a higher elevation too.

You picked a pretty poor example there, the elysian (or whatever ridiculous name it goes by) started off as a fairly promising proposal but sadly has turned out to be a major disapointment. Too many different materials have been used on the exterior which makes it look awkward. It also has an air of cheapness about it which means it will probably age quickly and poorly.

Also dave, have you not noticed that William Street is basically built on a hill? Surely you can see how innapropriate an 18 storey tower in this location would be?

Rather than get hung up about the height of the tower, which will almost certainly be refused, why not examine the validity of this project. The entire area is due for a large change, with the main Garda station reputed to be located there, a new Court House built by the prison, the change of use of St. Joseph’s and the ongoing issue of how best to develop the Market’s field.

In addition, William St. is due to be refurbished this Winter, how do we want this undistinguished part of Limerick be developed? Gerald Griffith St. was once the cultural heart of the city, and down by the Geraldine bar is where the city first developed outside of the city walls. Both areas are poor reflections of what they once were.

With the Civic Trust re-developing the monument off St. John’s Square, the continued success of Daghda, the refurbishment of St. John’s Cathedral, it’s clear the general area is improving, how does O’Callaghan’s plan fit into the greater scheme?

@dave123 wrote:

Where??
That part of town = souless. There is nothing but pre 18century ugly builidings that is seen in every other Irish town accross the country. It would real to say thats in one of the most neglected part of town right now. One or two Gateway towers would be awesome, when approaching town from the south, if they are built to a high standard and design etc. The Riverpoint is a good example where, people were afraid it would ruin the city skyline. It didn’t. Also Keepaneyeobob, there is nothing wrong with building new apartments in the city, as long as there are not awful in design. There are some fantastic new apartment complexes around town, not all of course though

I agree there’s nothing inherently wrong with apartment complexes, and certainly I think the higher level development by the riverfront is great, and am happy to see more of it.

However, I do object to this “flatten it all” attitude that has seen Limerick end up with less historical building stock and more crummy poorly thought out buildings (some of which themselves are to be knocked). It is arrogance to think that all 2008 designs will be so great and modern that they will have the permanance of the old buildings.

You say that part of town is soulless. I beg to differ. It is dreary and run down, and yes the buildings are typical of other places in Ireland. That is the point though, we are in Ireland and the buildings contribute to the authentic indigenous character (i.e. we don’t have to make up plastic stuff for tourists). Even paint would spruce up some of the less run-down buildings, and indeed already has helped (e.g. at the William/Gerald Griffin st corner). The streetscape is also a contributing factor to the run down feeling. William street despite some decrepid buildings would not be half as bad if it had a decent streetscape (although a pity they didn’t bring in the chewing gum tax).

Some of the old buildings are actually very distinctive in that area, for example the building near the corner of Gerald Griffin St. and Sexton St. that has timber frame on the outside. Quite run down but worth doing up. New buildings around there could be good, but they could just as easily be soulless monstrousities that will be as depressing as run-down old buildings in just a matter of 5-10 years.