GrahamH
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Might be Pierse, not sure.
Was in there yesterday having a nose around – like everyone else – and was bowled over by a soaring new atrium going up the 4/5 floors of the shop, riddled with escalators etc.Pretty impressive. Done on the cheap as all the floor edges and the undersides of the escalators are completly featureless, just clean-cut plaster. Other stores always put halogens or some type of snazzy lighting in these architectural spaces.
Dosn’t look cheap though – they’re using the ‘less is more’ excuse.As far as I’m aware the signal cabin was originally located somewhere else, it was lifted to this position by a massive crane a few years ago – it has a brick base at the moment – but its somewhat twee, built of reclaimed bricks and not laid in a Victorian manner.
I never knew the DART platforms 6 & 7 had an original canopy – I can’t belive this was removed – please say you’re mistaken David!
I always thought this was a modern platform, and that a mirrior image of the original should have been built for the DART to reinforce the ‘Victorianness’ of the station – and now you say there was one there originally!
What a terrible shame this was lost.A facinating feature of the cast-iron columns is the integration of water-downpipes into them, every second column is connected to the guttering of the canopy (this really shows how much time I’m waiting on bloody trains)
This feature is also in Dundalk.
I’m concerned that when the original canopy platform at Connolly is raised to standard level, it will consume the bases of the columns, the tracks cannot be excavated as is typical because the 6&7 platform across from it was built to standard level in 83.The Dundalk brickwork is fantastic, its like a big jigsaw puzzle with its moulded corner bricks and overdoor shapes. And the bricks are designed to fit exactly over the moulded granite window sills. And the many chimnneys crown everything off beautifully.
Its interesting that the Victorians were never too fond of their own architecture – countless comments from the period ridicule and criticise new public buildings. The previously mentioned newspaper piece from 1893 in the museum of the station also gets in a few digs at its design, deeming the brickwork to be somewhat vulgar – although concedes that on a sunny day and with all of the paint still fresh the station is ‘almost pretty’!
It praises the new toilets – a novelty indeed for their time – as being ‘fitted out in particularly fine style’. Even today they are elegant with original cut granite parapets on the walls of the cubicles.
Its a pity the first class waiting room’s interior was lost – very 50s now, something of a period piece itself.This is due to happen, presumably when the ‘dressing’ of the st gets underway ie, lighting, trees, benches etc.
Yikes – Nation Building was screened three and a half years ago now?!
Seems like yesterday.Good point about Haughey – his connections with John Byrne of O’ Cll Bridge House fame are well known – as just one of oh too many examples.
Just as Fitzwillian Square is mentioned – you really must go and see the infamous terrace there that’s clad in Virginia creeper – its turned a deep red recently and looks amazing in the sunshine, and the way it trails and droops over the fanlights.
I passed through the other day and a bus-load of Japanese business people had emptied out onto the square to take photos and video of the equally infamous Edwardian doorcase there (immortalised on every postcard in the city), and they were all chattering excitedly and pointing as they whirred and flashed away with their obligatory silver gagets.
Had to laugh.
But sometimes we do need outside observers to open our eyes to the beauty in this city – despite its problems.(cue violins)
Considering Trinity’s lack of space they should remain as courts, although it is a fine space.
The square just behind the Rubrics more than compensates, the accomodation designed to look like an Italian country house courtyard.
And those knarled old trees are incredible.
(also very Italian)Its the only street in the city thats a pleasure to walk on in terms of ‘levelness’, the row of cobbling along the shopfronts is also nice.
The speed at which Roches’ interior is coming along is incredible, pity the same contractors weren’t hired for Luas! And the new centered entrance al last gives something back to the street, as do the new windows and canopy.
And I have to admit, in the dark and rain yesterday, the building did look amazing in all of it’s newness, the halogens inside sparking through the new glass corners and lights glittering through the projecting window at the top of the building.I walked over the new paving for the first time too yesterday – the quality is impressive but thats about it.
All round the base of the Spire is littered with access man-holes for traffic signals and earth rods, and the big clumsy galvanised steel cover for access to services of the Spire is far from attractive, plonked but a couple of feet away from the base.
I don’t know if ‘normal’ people would notice these things, but it defies my logic that so much money and effort and disruption go into this repaving and for it to be tainted in this way.
One of the details in the plans for the street was to remove all of the ugly silver traffic signal boxes from street level and put them underground – but surely not scattered around the base of the focal point of the street!And the bronze base is far from interesting – although yesterday all of the ridges filled with water creating an attractive circular pool around the sculpture.
The bollards look well now in the context of the new paving – but should be arranged in a circle.
The whole area at last provides an attractive and accommodating pedestrian crossing for this major junction. Some snazzy ‘chromed’ traffic/pedestrian signals of the type at the James Joyce Bridge are now required.And the new dark paving as part of the plaza looks fantastic, it must be basalt or something – it turns jet black in the rain with the slabs of white stone or quartzite in between contrasting brilliantly. The monochrome colour scheme should make it timeless as it were, immune to Grafton Street Syndrome…
Exactly – they never touched the Henry St facade in all of their refurbishments in the late 90s.
And the flat projecting roof over the ground floor and entrance conceals a fine cut stone shopfront and large picture windows, which you can barely make out if you stand back from it outside the old entrance to Roches.Might as well sweep away all of Liffey St while they’re at it…
This is great – Arnotts is now officially the saviour of the city centre.
Any building or tatty shop you don’t like, who do you call – Arnotts!
Within a week they’ll sweep it away and build a glittering palace to consumerism in its place.Any historic building in need of restoration and new life – call in Arnotts! – the slum clearers of the 21st century.
They’ll soon throw tatty tenants out on their ear!Although, acres of sterile white walls and designer produce certainly isn’t to everyones taste.
If only, as Stephen C suggested, they’d snap up Penneys, what a fanatastic opportunity it would offer.
And with them now making their Jervis/Mary St premises their flagship store you never know…So much as mention knocking again and you’ll be slaughtered!
But I agree that the place is terrible inside – I’d like to say that the place could be restored to ‘its former glory’ but it can’t.
I’d like to say that the interior has essentially good design features and that it could be brought back to life – but really the place is bloody awful inside.It is fundamentally dated and tatty – the concourse ceiling appears to be made from squares of hardboard and the flooring is in bits.
So much of the interior cladding is beyond repair and is horribly out of date.The exterior is excellent architecture, and has beautiful original features and good design elements like the bronze windows, the quality brickwork, the Portland stone etc – but the interior has little else with the exception of the mosaic-clad columns, the wood clad walls and the overall sense of spaciousness and lack of clutter (structurally)
These elements should be preserved, but otherwise the interior should be completely overhauled with quality contemporary design.
I thought the place was in better shape than it is, not having been in it for years until a few days ago, but really, the concourse is horrible – it must be so depressing on a wet Friday night.
Of course the real issue is what CIE intend on doing with it as part of their plans – ‘quality contemporary design’ is more than just a little alien to them.
The first (I think) of the Luas platforms is being laid to the rear of the Jervis Centre.
Its raised 1 foot from the road level and is edged in stone slabs with those studded grip slabs set in behind the stone, like a railway platform.
Very attractive as it doubles as a fancy pavement.
One cannot feel but utterly ashamed exiting a building constructed of one of the most expensive building materials and whose wastage of space borders upon sheer gluttony with it’s echoing acres of white concrete, and facing the homeless of the Dental Hospital across the road.
I know we can make this arguement about anything – indeed we all threw this very arguement about with regard to the Spike – it just brings it home seeing these people.
I like the National Gallery Millenium Wing – esp the stairs – fantastically anti-PC in the face of accessibility etc – as long as the lifts etc are fully operational all of the time.
Pre-cleaning – I think it was heavy-handedly sandblasted when the internal ‘alterations’ were being carried out in the 70s.
Some of these carvings have been damaged for some time, the dirt just hid the problems.
