GrahamH
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What – on the Green north?! Surely not, sure there’s five lanes of roadway to dig up. This must be a very temporary measure, esp considering the effort and expense injected into this project.
The worst by a long shot is the Ulster Bank, 5 storeys is bad enough – 30 is just scary! And as for Aviation House!
It’s funny to see the almost reticent bow facade of AIB/IFSC suddenly morph into the intimidating headquarters of a faceless multinational 😀Sorry Diaspora – I was referring to the Tara St Station development rather than the street earlier – I don’t think such a height should be permitted in what essentially is the city centre, especially in this already congested area in height terms.
The idea of a main street though cutting through a bend in the river is indeed an attractive one though – as are embankment promenades, river boats and snow-capped mountains as a backdrop :pOn a cloudy day the view is remarkably depressing – although watching the city’s weather rolling in from the west is facinating.
The idea of Dublin anything near Morlans great picture is frightening – reminicent of the initial Spencer Dock proposal. Some very tall landmark buildings away from the immediate city centre is what the city needs I think, adding defintion to the skyline whilst not impinging on the human scale of the city. I don’t like the idea of Tara St where it is, further adding to the cluster of mid-rise in this area – creeping along the quay to O’ Cll Bridge.
Were those granite blocks that were nicked some time ago ever found? The wall at Eden Quay is extraordinary, the blocks are so thick, much moreso than other quay walls in the city.
Yes – indeed I only found out this lane existed quite recently!
What building are the Indo moving into on Talbot – is it the sleep-inducing red brick just being completed? At least it’s better than the BOI – if I see another polished granite slab in this city…It’s good to see some investment being made in the street – I think the CC refurbishd the place in 1997, when the maze of islands and trees etc were introduced, but it has deteriorated rapidly.
Anyone have a pic of what’s replacing Mall Mart – there’s some bricks peeking through anyway.‘street’ – good one!
If the whole place fell into a big hole overnight you wouldn’t miss it – in fact it would just make it easier to get to the Ha’penny.On Henry St the new shiny bollards outside Roches have been shoved into the ground with a dollop of redish cement around the base which is very messy. And as for the plague of chewing gum.
Still like the paving colour here though – the red and grey works very well.Yes – it wrecked the north front instead! That’s why the granite on this side is decidedly 20s parish church-like in it’s newness, which unfortunately impinges on the history and atmosphere of the place. Presumably the Long Room and Beresford’s luxurious chambers at this side went up in a flash, considering the OPW book mentions even brass fittings melting in the ferocious heat – which took months to cool down.
There’s still some carved sculpture sitting in the grounds from one of the restoration jobs, and as late as what would appear to be 1997, some old drainpipes on the south front were moved to behind the stonework, which made a big difference to the facade of the central part (you can still see them sticking out near the ground)
The only aspect of the meticulous job the OPW carried out latterly that I’d question is the use of the gold-tipped railings to the front to protect the building from vandalism – what’s with the naff gold? And the railing profile is very modern. Why not stick with the classic that is the humble Dublin Georgian railing – if nothing else their simplicity would have been financially attractive, let alone visually.
That’s very interesting, are the CC putting their hands up on this? Going by the other day one of the worst views is from the corner of the bridge where it joins the north Boardwalk, all the poles accumulate in the view – depth of field and all that – and the clutter is truly extraordinary, and right infront of Sunlight Chambers.
Had a look at the book – the reconstruction programme was from 1926 to 1929, with works finishing in 1930. 230,000 bricks from the original structure were re-used.
In the major restoration of 1984-91, many of the inappropriate changes were rectified such as replacing concrete castings with Portland, which were unaffordable in the 20s.Albeit a near total reconstruction, the north front is still my favourite – I have a soft spot for flat porticos, and the statuary perched on top give the charming impression of being on display on a mantelpiece, especially with the top storey behind. This central part, complete with deep arches is a magnificent piece of architecture, and much more interesting than the south facade – while impressive and exquisitely proportioned, I think becomes boring rather quickly.
And the tall and narrow drum of the dome looks out of place when viewed head on, a problem confounded with the new dark stone, which merely highlights the issue and further detaches the structure from the rest of the building.
I got the book recently you mentioned dc3, there’s one copy left (bit battered) in Hodges Figgis, where I scoured every shelf in the place till I found it in a darkened corner!
It notes that Gardiner St was laid out where it is purely to allign with Beresford’s apartments on the north front – and considering the vista of a bit of the rear-end of the dome is far from planned for the street’s benefit, this would appear to be the case.Very few people have been inside to the Visitor’s Centre, it’s worth a visit, the carved Bath stone is so crisp and perfect, and the views from inside under the south portico to the river are extraordinary. Think it’s €2 in, and free for students.
She’s certainly a popular one with the public, no nonsense approach and all that – from that perspective she will be a great boost to the organisation.
The article doesn’t actually say it’s rust, but there’s no doubt it needs cleaning.
I wasn’t on the street for about 4 weeks till recently and was astonished at how dirty it is, it is truly filthy when seen from Talbot St and other distant places, indeed the top third practically gleams in contrast with the lower reaches – the summer sun does it no favours when dirty.The OPW were in charge of the rebuilding – and it began a few years later in 1926 through to 1930, although site behind the facades was cleared in 1922 I think.
There’s extensive details in the book ‘Building for Government’ by the OPW, just don’t have it here at the moment, but they did something of an economy job on the decorative elements, using concrete aggregates to re-cast the balusters and plinth of the balustrade instead of Portland stone, and the 6 niches to the front were replaced with windows for the new offices.
The greatest loss externally is there for the world to see of course – the drum of the dome was rebuilt in Ardbraccan limestone (think Leinster House is built of it, and a different variety with Charlemont House) which is has darkened substantially since. It must have looked amazing in the Portland stone, matching the river front, and blazed brightly in the sun.
I can get a few date snippets from the book at home – if that’s any help.It has to be one of the greatest losses for Dublin that the Rotunda wasn’t centred on O’ Cll St because of Gardiner’s lands, it would be so fantastic to have it terminating the vista today, with the arms of the colonnades sweeping round to Gandon’s pavilions – what a statement it would make. Such an irritating loss – so near yet so far!
Great pics Peter – you couldn’t have hung round for 10 mins longer for the LEDs to come on? 🙂
I think all the stone looks better in the rain, not only does it darken it, but it makes the place feel huge too, turning the plaza into a giant mirror.I really like both parts of this building – it was used in that woeful ‘comedy’ ‘The Cassidys’ on Network 2 a while back as location for the local pub.
Don’t know what was on the site before but the Irish Architectural Archive on Merrion Square may be able to help, not only with info but photos too – you can photocopy them too for personal use.The upper end has to be the most depressing part of the inner city – well maybe Parnell’s worse but it’s still terrible; it’s the atmosphere more than the physical environment I think, a wasteland in every respect.
Have to laugh at the gilding of Dr Quirkey’s – should have seen it coming 😀
The Savoy definitely needs work on the ground floor alright, and the sign. I think its greatest asset are the upper floor windows which are classic elegant Edwardian – they should be shown off better with a clean facade which hasn’t happened yet.
The mirrored PVCs of neighbouring buildings need a good smashing however, and unfortunately the Gresham never replaced their chunky aluminium jobs in the refurbishment with the original steel specimens.
In some archive footage I saw recently it was funny to see the mighty trees at this end as tiny weedy little things, barely 15 years old. I wonder if it was ever intended for them to get so large.Quite disgraceful coverage by RTE News – nothing but a tossed-together report by Orla McDonnell at 9, and the story wasn’t second or third, but sixth!
All the whinging about the lack of coverage of the regions has led RTE to literally apologise everytime they run a Luas story, on radio and television. And there was no analysis of the project, any ’round up’ of why it was delayed and who was responsible, no facts as to capacity, purchasing tickets, details about how it operates, similar systems abroad, no graphics of any kind – just depend on the old reliables – vox pops. How lazy.
