GrahamH
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Until NTL come along!
One of the small bollards has been taken up, it’s lying on its side on the kerb.
The first of the side pavement trees are going in now, nothing spectacular in their leafless state. I think they’re planes.
Why are London Planes so called? Are there other examples of these trees currently going in, fully grown elsewhere in the city?
Are there such things as Irish planes?Don’t know what to make of the new trees on the central median, they’re being planted quite symmetrically but the different species may end up looking messy with fully grown canopies. Does anyone know what the tall wispy ones in the middle are with the white trunks?
Clearly the double row of lime trees on the median is out the window now – although in the IAP it was always intended to plant different species, it just didn’t specify in this way.
The smaller crab apples on the median should look spectacular if they are the flowering variety; a neighbour has one that’s a little bigger and it looks fantastic in early summer.Whatever about the median, it is essential that the pavement trees are consistant the whole way down to unify the street and create perspective, at least the IAP acknowledges this as being necessary too.
To be cynical – maybe the CC balked at the idea of clipping 100 limes into boxes every year?
I think most people would be surprised with as many as 11% walking to work.
One extraordinary figure from last year was that 58% of children walking to primary school in 1997 had fallen to a mere 35% by 2002, just 5 years.
A commensurate rise in car use for the primary school run occured, increasing from 32% to 52%.And the difference between girls and boys cycling to secondary school in Dublin is also extraordinary, with 8200 males cycling, compared with just 620 females. Clearly many unnecessary car or bus journeys being made.
Are new office buildings in the city centre being built with car parks now? Does Georges Quay have one?
What about around the country as well – are local authorities granting permission for them any more?A feature in the Irish Times from two years ago says it will/would (don’t know if t’s done yet) cost €3 million to restore.
It is suffering from the same problem as the Custom House did, the iron armatures holding the stone together are corroding away, making it unstable.The OPW architect in charge of the Custom Houses’ restoration said it was likely the spire may need complete rebuilding.
And just look at this one of the Wide Streets Commission development – it’d make you cry!
It was a Spar even before the restoration!
Now that you mention the lamp standards Devin on the GPO bollards, I do remember seeing a print years ago with them featured.
So I’ve scouted around and found a pic of them here:
http://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/p-9696.jpgNo doubt the large bases still served a defensive purpose, as any lamposts of the age were slender and elegant, a far cry from these cumbersome lumps!
Having a maternity hospital on the doorstep was therefore helpful no doubt!
Its a great shame about the Christchurch park. Whereas its sunken nature adds to the charm of the place, it inevitably repels visitors. A more transparent boundary would help a lot, whilst still allowing it to be secured at night.
The Garden of Rememberance doesn’t need much doing to it, it’s a great ‘period piece’ and would be a shame to lose it or parts of it. A better integration with the rest of the square is largely all that is required, what little of the square is left…
Forgot to mention that Dublin Bus’ new shopfront has been unveiled, it looks great – clad in limestone. (Not that I don’t think the building should be replaced with a building in the style of those in the terrace)
The stone or concrete surround of the building is being removed at the moment, and most extraordinarily – it would appear the original brick walls of the Georgian townhouses on the site are the retaining walls of the new building!
The removal of the cladding has revealed old brickwork, and it’s not that of the neighbouring buildings.
It’s as if the facades of thetwo houses were removed and the horrible 60s windows simply slotted into place!And yes, the Millenium Bridge is too close to the Ha’penny, and the natural route mentioned should have been used. I often have to make the zig-zag too and is annoying and just silly.
I don’t think this development is as bad as is made out either.
Ok, it’s standard stuff, using standard materials, but it isn’t cringe inducing to look at it.
There are of course bad elements to it, the red-bricked part attached to the tower is very cluttered and messy near the ground floor, and there’s more clutter on the other building where the ‘new meets the old’, with messy windows squeezed in at the top on the side.And the join with the new stone and the brickwork should not have been made on the quay facade.
The lack of windows in the old building is really awful, and clearly looks it in that pic from earlier, it looks derelict.I think what the problem with it is, and perhaps the problem you have with it Brian, is that it is a landmark site, clearly noticable, and deserves better than the mundane.
Abolutely! So many areas are looking great, and many are about to.
The city needs to mature now, away from some of the rash development of the 90s.
And in 15 years or so, transport should be sorted.should…
All I know is that the cornice was replaced in the late 80s, along with the blank frieze underneath, which is why that upper part of the building is so clean and crisp in comparision with the rest.
Still don’t know about the coat of arms though.The bollards are original to the building, and rather charmingly, are individually listed on the protected structures list. Presumably their purpose was to protect the columns from carriage wheels, with the tall corner ones protecting the corner columns from crashes, which were very common. You can see their foundations exposed at the moment.
One confusing aspect about them is that in a picture from 1818, the year the GPO was finished, they are missing. In the same pic, tall oil lamps are attached to the railings surrounding the building.
In another pic of exactly the same scene, also from 1818, the bollards are evident and all of the lamps have been replaced with big lanterns hanging from curly brackets; these lanterns are also evident in much later paintings and sketches.
Perhaps the building wasn’t finished when the first painting was painted and the artist presumed that the proposed lanterns would be the standard oil-lamps evident all over the city, and the bollards hadn’t yet been installed.I’ve always really liked them, esp the ridges or fluting on them. The House of Lords portico has two small granite bollards, one at each corner.
The Spire will be lit eventually, perhaps it is best it’s in darkness at the moment because it’s really filthy now.
Where are the latest trees Stephen, I read about them but havn’t seen them on the street, are they behind O’ Connell Monument behind the fencing there or something?
The view from outside Penneys towards the GPO is quite bizarre at the moment, with the six columns landing down into a load of muck.
So weird seeing the building out of its urban setting, just shows what a construct cities really are, built on what were just fields and grass not too long ago.
What a coincidence Grafton St comes up – just as one of its finest buildings is unveiled after restoration.
It’s directly opposite the Provosts House, and has been covered in scaffolding since October, but it’s coming down right now.
And it looks FANTASTIC!It’s a buttery sandstone structure, with massive marble columns adorning the 1st and 2nd floors, and is one of the city’s finest Victorians.
The stonework is now crisp and sharp and sparkling clean, and looks amazing in the sun. The windows have also been restored and painted a complementary shade.
And looks great located right next to what are my favourite infills in the city, a pair of Edwardianish limestone buildings, which are magnificent & very clean.
They all look so well together, such a shame they’re located in probably Dublin’s least noticed terrace.Indeed Clerys is often touted as the oldest dep store in the world, the first to market shopping as a leisure activity.
They achieved it by containing many departments under one, very lavish roof. Suppose the first shopping centre as well.An indication of the modernity of the building were the large plate glass display windows on the ground floor, which were unheard of in this country at the time, and must have been prohibitively expensive in 1851-53.
The Mansion House is otherwise the earliest example of the use of such glass I’ve come across in the city, dating from around the same time.The mystery of Arnotts lives on.
What’s very wierd about the design on the bag is how unsymmetrical the building is – the wing on the left after the tower is 5 bays long, while on the right it’s only 3 bays, why aren’t they balanced out with four on either side?And over the pilasters J. Seerski mentions are magnificently carved capitals, laden with all sorts of foliage etc, sadly obscured by the canopy.
Does anyone know of the trademark green railings inside are original, I’ve never been sure – they look decidedly Stephens Green Centreish. Then again, their railings are pretty good repros.
TThis was a massive restoration job and has been done meticulously by the City Council.
It looks amazing now – albeit very very pink.
I know the 1980s loved the Georgians, but I didn’t know the Georgians loved the 1980s!And glad to see a comparative newcomer has noticed the city’s paving – something some people said visitors don’t notice…
Lots of lovely stuff there, there’s probably quite a few Georgians lurking behind the gothic trappings of the Victorians.
At the Stephens Green end, there’s a couple of very early 19th century, Georgian style buildings with granite window surrounds which would appear to be the oldest facades on the street, along with West jewellers and parts of M&S.
The lamposts aren’t original to say the least, but the posts could still be 19th century, salvaged from elsewhere. The heads are of course delightful examples of 80s nostalgia.
I think the street was first pedestrianised in 1980, put the current paving wasn’t laid until around 87/88.
There were 3 main phases of development on the st
1. As the st developed from a laneway linking to the Green into a residential area in the 17th and 18th centurys.2. Then the Victorians first converted many of the houses into stores, while in the 1870s & 80s buildings were demolished and replaced in the high style we see now.
3. Around 1900-20 many fine buidings also went up, including office buildings or ‘chambers’, which are esp evident opposite the Provosts House.
You can also throw insome 1930s & 60s development as well.
