GrahamH
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Hmmm – but River Island is the 1960s block is it not? Where else could they possibly knock through given the rest of the terrace is protected?
Or do you refer to a street between Princes St and Liffey St jdivision?Yup – in fact it started a few months ago notjim.
The plans seem to have changed a bit from the direct gated entrance and flight of steps depicted in the Framework Plan. Now I think you walk through a gate onto an elevated railed platform which overlooks the garden, with access then gained via flights of steps sited at each side.Lovely crisp limestone doorcases are now being installed.
It is now clear that the far left new house is the last building in a terrace of matching houses built by a Georgian developer – its fanlighted doorcase has just been installed, perfectly matching the neighbouring house as visible in Devin’s post above. It looks like Portland stone, but has a strange hue to it and a very smooth finish, perhaps suggesting reconstituted stone considering it may well be painted.
The new pair of matching houses to the right seem to have been built as a seperate scheme originally, and will have matching exposed limestone doorcases as pictured.
Pffft – as much as Oid loike to be roightsh, I’m not 🙂
Your first observation was spot on Seamus – the tiny little bridge on Grand Canal Quay. An extraordinary piece of engineering; Victorian masonry at its very very best. Made up of long elegant strips of granite structured in a diagonal fashion, it is a truly remarkable thing.
Sandwith St was close though! – just it’s a bit higher and more conventional in masonry.
Also correct as usual Phil, very well spotted on lower Grafton Street. Definitely one of the nicest infills in the city along with its matching limestone neighbour:
And the Se
Well spotted Shane – thanks. It’s about time this crowd was reigned in.
To add to Mark’s picture above, here is the Dublin banner in its partial glory – the product and brand remarkably disappearing from the captured image. Spooky.
Unbelievable!
And just as I was standing there, two men walked by on the median tut tutting to each other about how terrible it was and “especially as it’s covering a lovely semi-circular window up there – look, you can just about see it through the material”.
The slogan depicted on the product ironically sums up the company’s attitude to a tee. But not this time Burger King, you will not ‘have it your way’ :rolleyes:
A good news story from the street is the most impressive new LED statue floodlighting installed on the GPO – previously these rather clunky (though better than most) black floodlights illuminated the figures:
They have been replaced by these incredibly small LED units!
Remarkably small – you’d wonder how they emit anything at all! The other added benifit of course is that they should last much much longer than the former sodium or tungsten bulbs that used to blow regularly, upsetting the composition as well as casting statues into darkness.
A fitting finishing touch to what has broadly been a magnificent restoration project by An Post.Just a pity that such a sensitive job couldn’t have been carried out on the rest of the building’s lighting, not least that pediment strip which is still in place. If this doesn’t come down soon, a complaint is being lodged – there is no way that is staying there! In any event, one suspects permission was not applied for: no notices to this effect went up on site, and there’s no record on DCC planning searches either.
What is very interesting however, is an application made by An Post in 2003 to reinstate the original cast iron railings the whole way around the building from Princes Street to Henry Street! What ever came of that proposal I wonder?! It appears to have been withdrawn or declared invalid. It would seem to have been timed to coincide with the beginning of the Plaza works.
In that rendering they look extraordinarily like 1960s social housing, especially with that distinctive capping band around the top – truly hideous buildings, the squat 12 storey in particular.
It would also appear that the silos are being used an excuse to get away with this heavy massing that is so inappropriate for the location; the buildings look like they’ve been shovelled onto the site for maximum floor gain with no concession to the environment. The silos are an inherent part of this industrial landscape – these yokes are not.
This is not elegant, striking juxtaposing – it’s simply brashness, using bloated structures of a botched design by the most boring practice of blah brokers in the country.
There certainly ought to be a daily fine system – no question. Something like this only needs to be up for a day for a couple of thousand tourists to see it, let alone citizens on a daily basis.
And this sign in particular is even more awful thanks to the very reason they erected it – it has massive impact at that location, visible from the bridge, quays and southern streets, let alone O’Cll St itself.The cheek of them in erecting it is truly astounding – it covers the entire building, making the baguette one look postively muted:
Lotts Enforcement must be scratching their heads wondering what the heck is going on with 38 complaints pouring in about the same case in one go 😀
Thanks for than Bren. Things seem to have moved on a lot alright – though I do wonder if developer-led timber construction has changed in the slightest. Frankly I cannot see them insulating internal walls at all, let alone double-layer construction. Unless of course they’re regs now…
The delightful Morrison Chambers it is 🙂
And the Merchant’s Quay friary building:
..with surprisingly ridiculous pediments on the top floor.
Might as well do these three then, but that’s it.
C
D (:))
E
Only cause I forgot again Seamus – oops 😮
As if it needs confirming though – spot on Phil:
Grand Central was too obvious to use 😀
Two other quick easy ones:
A
B
Though not in focus, it is the domed building we’re after 🙂
Absolutely. Those individually tailored, topic-specific threads totally lack focus. In fact, they are so conducive to bluster and wandering off-topic as to make one long for the days of the clear head, logical progression, and varied debate of the Cork threads of yore.
Above all corkdood, just about everyone who gets their windows restored are delighted with the outcome. If you do get them done, and stand watching as the newly restored heavy sashes are put back in as they were 60 or 70 years ago, and you see and feel the quality and how smoothly they operate, you’ll kick yourself for even of thinking going any other route 🙂
They will make for a great investment.Please asdasd – you’d churn out exactly the same post if AT were found to be supportive of O’Toole’s proposals.
utter bollocks
indeed.
To be honest, modern PVC will probably be in fine condition in 10, 20, even 30 years time corkdood – nobody really knows at this point how long the newer, sturdier stuff lasts that is now available. Certainly the PVC of the 1980s and early 90s barely had a life of more than ten years in terms of decorative and even build condition, but the newer forms available now certainly have a longer life.
However, whatever about structural integrity, at the end of the day PVC is for the most part (not always) a ghastly material, and should never in a million years be used in older buildings in particular.
I imagine you live in one of Cork’s nice 1940s housing estates, built at a time when metal was in short supply and timber sashes were reintroduced as a window format. The fact that the majority of the estate still has their original windows is truly remarkable in dump-it ditch-it modern Ireland – this speaks volumes not only about how long timber as a material lasts, but also informs as to the course of action you should take, which is to restore them.
Without getting heavy about it, you do have a certain responsibility corkdood in what you do with these windows from the perspective of setting a trend for your estate! Be under no illusions: your installation of PVC or similar will help contribute to a disastrous ripple effect that happens on every residential road in Ireland, and especially in housing estates where window formats are uniform. Everyone copies each other in what they do when their windows need refurbishment – so you could either help foster a culture of conservation on your road with a decent restoration job, or simply encourage everyone to ditch their nice original sashes in favour of flat, lifeless, cheap rubbish that’ll last for half as long as what the timber has done thus far. Not only that, the uniformity of your estate will equally be destroyed, with a mish-mash of window materials, styles and colours being introduced across the board. All it takes is a couple of properties to go in a certain direction, and plastic spreads like wildfire from house to house.
Of course it’s entirely up to you what you want to do – just opinions being offered ;). PVC sashes are often touted as a good compromise – again I’d argue they’re not. They still stand out like a sore thumb, have terrible detailing up close (even from a distance with most), and can never replicate exactly the former windows and/or the surviving windows of neighbouring houses. Their life is equally poor if not worse than conventional PVC frames due to the amount of wear and tear they endure with substantial, heavy moving parts.
PVC has also no exclusive hold over double-glazing either as is often touted – your timber sashes can easily be double glazed, can be draught-proofed, can have additional security features added, and can be fully restored to perfect condition by any able joiner, no problem whatsoever.
I see you have also posted on another forum (linked on another thread here). It is suggested there that you have to constantly maintain timber – not so. Every four years or so is average for painting – you can even leave it longer on sheltered elevations. It is also suggested that PVC should be coated every 4-5 years after its initial lifespan – admittedly not really true for better quality PVC, but if you do get cheap ones well then painting them is the same as painting timber, only now you’re maintaining cheap poorly designed muck instead of a natural tailor-made product! Hmmmm – I wonder….
The planning issues are largely as outlined above, generally no need for permission if not protected or in an ACA – though your noting of most houses still having their original windows perhaps suggests a lease stipulation if the estate is managed by the Corporation (assuming it’s Cork!). Is your house a Corpo or former Corpo house?
That ‘pointing’ is so bad it’s funny Devin, though certainly not the proposed demolitions. One doesn’t know whether to be more exercised over the demolition of such stock or the erection of the inevitable dross that’ll replace them.
What of sound insulation levels in timber builds these days Bren?
If there’s one thing that has won the concrete industry over with one-off builds, it is the perceived superior levels of sound insulation offered, and the related impression of ‘solidity’ – no shaking walls every time a door is closed somewhere in the house, insulation from noise in neighbouring rooms etc.
Have things improved since the dodgy beginnings of the timber boom in the late 70s/80s?😀
Yes, unfortunately inflammatory language – what AT could very much do without. Indeed rather silly language to be honest – ‘criminal’ doesn’t even make sense!
However, as dodgy as its inclusion is regardless of who wrote it, from my interpretation of the article it would seem that AT are quoting the local residents. Is this not the case?This is unbelievable! Barely even a year from their last reprimand by Planning in April 2005 for their baguette advertisement!
Well this time round they’re certainly not getting the benefit of a free picture ad on the internet.Really contemptuous behaviour – again knowing full well they’ll have 14 days or something to take it down, on top of the planning processing delay, and on top of the time before anyone even notices!
Anyway, Enforcement have been notified. As for penalties Frank, good question – can fines only be issued via the courts?Indeed on the general theme of enforcement, all the IAP and ACA etc documention went on about strict monitoring of planning and development in this area; presumably other ACAs have/will have similar objectives too. Not that I’m referring to the Burger King case, but does this translate into a physical walkabout by a planning official every few months, or is it a more office-based form of monitoring by means of applications coming in, or even a vaguer aspiration than that?
That is unbelievable!
Presumably the pictured wall is coming down too?!Remembering the initial decision:
“The proposed development, by reason of the demolition of an existing habitable house, which contributes positively to the character of this residential conservation area, would be contrary to the Z2 objective in the Dublin City Development Plan. Moreover the proposal does not accord with principles of sustainable development and policies to discourage the demolition of habitable houses (Res 5). The proposal would render it difficult to resist similar development, which would cumulatively undermine the character and legibility of the Conservation Area irrevocably. It is therefore considered that the existing dwelling should be retained in accordance with policies H13 and H27 of the Dublin City Development Plan.”
What a disgrace.
Good luck with your call publicrealm – impressive how involved you’d become in this, to the point of hauling a stepladder to the site perhaps…..? 😉Regarding the house itself, as alluded to earlier, it would appear to have been substantially altered already in spite of its relatively uniform appearance. All of this lower principal elevation would seem to be a late 1950s extension (with slates also added):
…wrapping round the side to the rear and rising to two storeys:
Take all of this away, including the small flat-roof extension in the middle above and the imitation boiler chimney to the front, and an almost entirely different (more conventional) c.1930 house emerges.
Not that what appear to be later additions didn’t offer it an added charm – alas none of this matters anymore 🙁
