GrahamH
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Really, its unwrapped?!!! Arrrgh, don’t have time to see it today now!!!
The shot peening and the pattern were mentioned pretty much from the beginning.Can’t wait to see it, regardless of it’s condition.
On that I will compromise.
PVC on the Ntl Gallery? Surely not. I’ll be passing later, I’ll have a look.Yesterday I went to have a closer look at Leinster House but could’nt bring myself to go through the main gates so I went down the side of the Ntl Museum instead. And uggh, shiver etc, the window looks even worse up close. And that Victorian addition that links the House to the Museum, admittedly I’m not sure if it’s are PVC, they do look somewhat clinical, although that could be because they are new/restored.
‘The Window’
The statement has some gravitas dosnt it.
Annnnyway, looking at a picture of Leinster House, from around 1890s/1900, the building has Victorian plate glass windows on the ground floor, but the original Georgian sashes up above. So the OPW, in their efforts to reinstate Georgiana put in PVC??!!
Victorian windows still prevail on the garden front of the building on the ground floor.
And what about Aras an Uachtarain. For years it has had expansive Victorian plate glass windows, all of which were changed for the visit of Victoria herself. I’ve always been unsure as to whether these should be replaced with Georgian sashes, certainly they’d look much better and be in keeping with the house, but then, the Victorian additions form part of the history & fabric of the house too. Theres no doubt that the classical proportions of the Georgians would look so much better.
And there are also some grossly inappropriate 20/30s windows in the garden facade, directly beneath the garden portico that hav’nt been replaced.Apologies J Seerski, as far as I can remember it was you who posted about PVC windows in Hillsbourgh Castle, I said I could’nt see any on the main facade. Unfortunatly you were correct, PVC does ‘grace’ it’s main front.
And they’re not just imitation sashes, but the nastiest, crudest, slap-in-the-faceiest piles of tat that one could conjure up for use here, they have no relief whatsoever, have the obligatory plastic grids between the double panes, and of all things, open inwards by tilting from the top!
Considering the White House had old- fashioned Georgian sashes installed in it’s early 20th century West Wing to respect the rest of the house, and Hillsbourgh could’nt even do it in the 90s, George Bush must’nt be overtly impressed.(yeah ok, like he cares, I’m just trying to be current)
Take one guess.
I should be trying harder, and I will ring them on Monday. To be honest, I don’t know if it’s good news for the house yet but surely the conservation officer can find out. It looks positive anyway.
Yes trees can be listed and bizzarly, views in urban areas can also be protected (& rightly so of course) Looking at the dev plan for Dundalk, hundreds of trees are protected, and there is literally acres of land, streets etc listed as protected views, even if the buildings themselves ar’nt protected.
More bad news for Dundalk though, right at the heart of it’s Georgian core, two 18th century buildings have just been gutted by fire on Earl Street. Everything bar their now blackened facades are utterly lost, and these were also protected buildings. What a blow for a really beautiful area of the town.
And the whole point of the spacial strategy, to pinpoint growth areas and encourage them naturally involves an increase in population, esp in the western/midland towns mentioned. Why is’nt the rail infrastructure being invested in as a result? ie the Western Corridor! Plan rail over cars now, in the lull before the storm!
(Not that I think the spatial strategy will be implemented anyway)
Everyone has a building they like, or several. And if you saw it/them fall into a terrible state for no immediate reason you’d probably be concerned too.
There is nothing that makes me sicker than seeing a period building fall into disrepair. It’s sentimental, cliched and every other ‘typical’ thing in the book, I know, but I don’t care.
And the listing system is in place for a reason…Well the tables have turned slightly.
It would appear that the house suffered a small fire last year (a relative went to snoop around & have a look for me). And most of the slates are in a big pile on the ground infront of the building (which he ignorantly walked over). So it could be the case that work is being carried out on the house. After all, 500 slates don’t suddenly slide off a roof over a weekend.Also, a gardener was there cutting the grass so it appears that the site is being maintained and the owner is ‘pro-active’
Still I’m not holding my breath, as I have yet any builders on site.
But for the moment at least, I retract my earlier suggestions of deliberate neglect.
After all, you must be mad in the head to neglect such a beautiful property.
Then again, this is Ireland.
It was the 1996 plan, so hopefully…
The conservation officer never rang me back today, and they’ve no answering machine or anything so I’ll try again in the morning. They’ve no e-mail address either.Oh, and the slates are proper slates, probably Welsh or something. It is concievable I suppose that they are being nicked, although I have seen, as I said, ‘workmen’ on the site during the day, albeit a couple of months ago now.
IT’S PROTECTED!!!!!!
Went into Dundalk Library today and slaved over lists, info & map after map, and there it was, on the Dundalk protected structures map in the midst of all those black & white lines, roads and terraces, the single orange square the size of a tic tac that I so wanted to see, indicating it’s status. Protected.
Further research into the textulised list confirmed it, ‘an early 19th century single storey house’. Also, all of the trees surrounding the site are protected. Although, in the ‘importance’ section, there was nothing written such as ‘local’ or ‘regional’ importance. Also, under ‘comments’ where for other buildings it said ‘proposed’ or ‘omitted’, it said ‘submission’, whatever that means. Somewhat worrying.So I should ‘have a case’ in light of the written statement ‘The council will prevent the demolition or material alteration of buildings, features and sites listed in volume three’ (the list of all protected structures)
How exciting! (were it not so grave)
I’ll have to ring the conservation officer tomorrow then. They probobly keep some ludicrous hours like ‘telephone between the hours of 3 and 4.30’ but anyway.I feel like Desmund and Mariga Guinness in the 70’s, (only not so eccentric, and not so much money)
Of course brown is back now, although not for external finishes. But for slick dark flooring, countertops, raised panelling etc, set off typically with white or cream walls, and is esp snazzy.
Oh alive alive o by all accounts. He appears on radio from time to time (if thats not a contradiction in terms) He also featured on RTE’s only ever production/series to deal with architecture ‘Nation Building’.
He now regrets Fitzwilliam St, Wood Quay and the battle for Hume St, although still fiercly proud of the Central Bank, and rightly so, (location aside!)
Ah, now there’s an idea.
As far as I can see, there is no, or ever was any planning notice at the front of the site.
I’m getting very concerned now though as every day I pass, more and more tiles are dissappearing from the roof. Indeed I think most the slates from the front of the house have dissappeared over the weekend alone.
It is the most sorry, dismal sight imaginable now. I’ll try and get a pic in the next couple of days. More importantly though, get it PROTECTED!!!
Arrrrgggghh!!!
I could’nt get into Dundalk Library at the weekend, so I went into the National Library this morning. First, the attendant looked at me like I had 2 heads at the mention of a development plan, then I spent a good half hour looking through their index cataloge and their databases under every related title under the sun, but to no avail.
Then a more senior attendant came out and suggested I try under Dundalk Urban District Council, so back to the catalouges and computers, again nothing. He said the local authorities are appaling for divulging info to the Ntl Library, an area he was personally responsible for.So he went away to get the chief Librarian, suffice to say she did’nt venture into the Reading Room but he came back and said that the Library had’nt aquired any of the Development Plans although they are persisting.
So, back to Dundalk…..
It is destroying this country and the UK. Whereas the UK arereverting back to wood and sashes big time now on more upmarket homes, Ireland persists in uPVC.
What I really hate is it’s manufacturers/suppliers coming up with new ways of wooing period home owners with the latest ‘period’ features, like PVC sashes and ‘Georgian’ plastic grids between the double panes.If people were asked if they would like to have a plastic coated front door, windows, guttering, downpipes and facias they’d run a mile. But if its PVC, ahhhh, well then…
It is the most revolting material concievable, and is destroying new and old buildings.(although admittedly, matt grey windows in office buildings look rather good)
