GrahamH
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An interesting view of the church is in the earlier pic, with the contrast between the Roman bulk of the Four Courts and the Gothic spires of the church adding interest along the quays.
Those flowers are great – so parochial. They look like they’ve been arranged by a priest’s housekeeper 🙂
They look surprisingly good all the same, esp as they don’t conceal the seahorses – something to consider for the summer.And there’s quite a lot of original brickwork here too as can be seen here – there’s extensive amounts elsewhere in the terrace as well.
Interesting stuff there Devin – and the urns atop seem appropriate too, given the date and the fact that McBirneys has them!
I don’t agree that the current building is crap, it looks so alright, but structurally isn’t.
If the facade was painted a sand/tan colour, that would match the tones of neighbouring stock bricks, contrasted with crisp white matt stucco detail it could look fanatastic, esp with wooden sashes put back in and the removal of that lift shaft/water tank yoke on top.
Combined with a natural stone or timber ground floor facade it would be the making of this quay.
To have the potential that’s in this building over-taken by that proposed structure would be just madness. For the building’s sake, the quay’s sake, and that of the riverscape of the city.The window settings are fantastic, esp the current one. The lighting is equally impressive.
Overall, I’m still not a fan of the scale of the building in relation to the street – ok a building that size is always going to have an impact, but if you compare it to the original building you can really appreciate how the new design has swelled it into an overbearing structure. I still think there’s too much faceless concrete as well.
Saying that, the corner glazing is lovely, esp contrasted with the equally dashing black granite which is one of the best features of the building. Secret fire escapes have been impressively hidden in the stone too.
I was walking along Henry St recently with someone and the collapse of Charles De Gaulle Airport came up for some reason – but we were just saying how much we take for granted the stability of buildings, putting complete trust in engineers and regualtions – just as we were walking beneath Roches cantilevered restaurant! Suffice to say we inched our way to the other side of the street pretty smartish 🙂St Marys is drool-worthy – it’s always so nice to see a departure from boring old Doric.
Weird to see Herself up there in place of classical statuary, bit like St Andrews up in Dublin.That building is really horrendous, not only the design of it, esp the windows – their style, number and placement, but the fact that it makes no attempt to integrate into the quay and existing stock. It stands purely for its own sake – the very worst kind of architecture for the quays.
And those ledges in the central bay give it a distinct Costa Brava quality that is equally unfortunate.Single pane sashes seem to be correct alright as the originals – not only are the PVCs inappropriate, so are their design. The Georgian grid is totally unsuited to so many windows. The fact that the window is by far the foremost architectural feature of this building, it is no wonder it now looks so terrible with the new frames.
Hotel and accomodation owners so often replace their windows simply to improve efficency and practicality in the bedrooms, with complete disregard to the building itself – so much better to have shiny PVC with handles, than have customers complaining about rickety old sashes that won’t open or close, or that stick. This is a huge issue around the country – from hotels, to pubs to B&Bs.
Somehow, the easy restoration and maintainace of sashes has to be more widely advertised.To be glib, with those windows you can knock it!
Ah, no – it’s unfortunate the state of this building, the windows, the dated colour, the nasty ground floor – they all make the building quite ugly to be honest. You can only wince at the rows of horrendous modern window frames, esp with their lights sticking out.
Admittedly I though the hotel was a bit further west than it is, with modern infill round about it but it’s not – rather it’s sited in the middle of a decent terrace of old stock.Where a number older buildings exist, that create a certain character, this should be maintained I think. I’d welcome decent infill in the many vacant or rundown sites, and indeed entire terraces of it elsewhere on the quays, such as Arran Quay, but this is not the place for it. The Ormonde could look fanastic if restored properly. McBirneys is such an example.
Here’s the view from Grattan Bridge at the moment:
Think it was Diaspora who raised the Four Courts…
PVC King – assuming you are someway involved in the PVC or window industry, do you have any problems in replacing original timber frames with PVC in older structures? Where do you stand on this issue, do you ‘draw the line’ anywhere?
Do you or the industry at large specifically inform clients as to the life of the material, either in new build or older structures?Ah. Well here’s a pic – the stonework on the ground floor is excluded but looks even better than the upper floors now:
Dates from 1890 or 91 – can’t remember what’s printed on the base of the columns! Pearse had to be altered to essentially have a railway burst through its facade to take the the new line.
Presumably the facade there now dates from this time also – a weird piece of architecture – as is the colour.
Unfortunately the bridge doesn’t look so classy now with huge canvas draped over it advertising IE’s Student Card.One of the finest streetsapes in the city is Westland Row – in a way I like the effect Trinity’s ownership has on that terrace in that they all still look like private houses – the doors are always closed and there isn’t a brass business plaque at every entrance etc.
Good to see the large red-brick Georgian across the road has been restored recently, it is unbelievable the difference in appearance, and the contribution it now makes to the street.
At night there’s a magnificent view of the Adam plasterwork of its drawing room ceiling lit up, through the 4 tall arched windows. Unusual detail in these widows too. Also, two neighbouring Georgians have at last got a much needed coat of paint and look very well too.Some improved paving and lighting would help in contributing to the turnaround in fortunes this street has been experiencing recently, what with Trinity’s (overall) decent job on its stock and various other retail and restoration developments.
Next on the list is the removal of some of the worst PVC windows I’ve seen in that Victorian (convent?) close to Pearse.
Also, the unusual Victorians on the corner with Merrion St need work.I’d forgotton about those Turkish Baths, just imagine if that dome was still there today – of course then we’d just take it for granted.
Any connection with the cafe that used to be there being called the Taj Mahal? The cafe of ‘Where is the Taj Mahal – opposite the Dental Hospital’ fame 🙂Well you are kinda waving a red rag at a bull here with that name like that – you might as well be called Patrick Gallagher 😉
I certainly hope we don’t go down the route some UK towns took recently of erecting boards on lamposts on which to stick your gum. I never heard of anything more disgusting, boards at eye-level laden with knobs of manky gum.
The plastic bag levy was succcessful because of alternatives to the plastic bags but people aren’t necessarily going to give up gum if it’s overpriced. I think a tax that is just sufficient to cover the cost of cleaning is appropriate, and that the money be ringfenced. As much as I’d like to see the stuff got rid of, I don’t think it’s fair the rest of us be penalised for the actions of such ignorant users.
It’s interesting though – has anyone actually ever seen anyone throw or spit gum on the ground? It’s extraordinary how much of the stuff there is down there and yet you never see people do it!
