West front, Houses of Parliament, College Green

Great find Paul! Funnily enough, I actually admire the symmetry that exists between the East and West fronts. Much like the colonade which temporarily linked the central original portion with the Foster Place entrance this might be slightly incongruous. Having said that, had Grattans Parliament continued to function beyond 1800 it would almost certainly have resulted in an expanded circular building stretching as far as Fleet Street…..with a slight realignment of Westmorland St…..this proposal would have made for a memorable vista accross O’Connell Bridge!

Thats what I was aluding to above. It is such a dominating and dramative elevation that it would only suit a principal frontage.

haha..When it rains it pours….

Just found an illustration for Lutyens original proposal for The Gallery of Modern Art, which was actually to be in St Stephens Green rather then Iveagh Gardens as I stated.

You can just make out the College of Surgeons in the Background. The illustration is of poor resolution though!

Also, there is a rather nice illustration of his second proposal for the “Bridge Art Gallery:
If you examine the pictures carefully they really give a better idea of just what was proposed and how substantial each flanking structure actually was.

The website won’t link but if you go to google images and type “bridgemanart william walcot gallery” you will fiind the illustrations

Apologies for going off topic but I tried pm-ing this info and the e-mails just wouldn’t send;)

C