GrahamH

Indeed – only the other lunchtime there was a group of (rather sad) thirty/fortysomethings in their shirt sleeves probably from the insurance offices across the way playing football up against the gravestones, which was pretty ignorant. Goes to show the attention they’re given in their current position.

Yes the new Quartier Bloom is a great addition to the city, if nothing particularly spectacular – a pretty standard urban space. Certainly the difference it has made as an efficent link from the Millenium Bridge to the north inner city is remarkable – I find myself using it two/three times a week simply by virtue of its convenient location, instead of previously having to avail of dingy Jervis Street or choked and pedestrian-hostile Liffey Street.
Without a doubt it is the beautiful timbered arches that generate the air of quality and distinctiveness here – otherwise it’s fairly conventional; as mentioned there is no planting as yet, nor any lighting or other installations of note. Also the green plastic furniture of the Last Supper place could be improved.

But the concentration of quality outlets here, combined with some innovative interiors is most refreshing to see, as is the outdoor seating. Equally, walking by choosing what meal you’d have from those eating at the tables around you is always a pleasure, if somewhat frustrating 🙂
Yes the Abbey end by contrast is pretty much dead, though there is already an extension being added to a recently completed building here, hopefully a service outlet of some kind. The quality of workmanship on that same red brick building is very poor.

@Devin wrote:

Good God, that’s certainly um, different! Well, hideous to be honest. If this is deemed to be a good example of ‘topping out’ then I hold up little hope for what lies in store for our urban areas.
What’s the point in stripping off nearly everything of originality, surely the very purpose of retaining the houses/facades in the first place, only to further compromise what could otherwise be a decent modern development, or alternatively an attractive, reasonably dense terrace of Victorian houses? What we have now is a halfway house on both fronts. It looks like a contemporay addition to a dodgy pastiche terrace similar to certain imitation developments you see in the streets off Mountjoy Square, with their all-singing matching red doors, blank double-glazed windows and cheapo railings and concrete plinths.
The addition just doesn’t work at all, not least because the terrace below doesn’t even look old – without a roof it just looks like part of the development!

By contrast, the College Green topper-offer, red brick aside, is clearly distinct and complements its context rather than dominates.

An interesting and current case of reproduction Georgian sashes being used to replace later Victorian frames is Dundalk Garda Station – an imposing Italianate pile sited prominently at the top of a small hill in the town (below). Built c.1852-54, it was still too early to have plate glass windows, especially in the regions, and so Georgian sashes were installed with typical small horns.

Over the course of the late 19th and probably early 20th century, some of the Georgian sashes were replaced with plate as can be seen below, with the grids simply cut out in a make-do-and-mend fashion :), though nearly all of the side elevation windows remained intact.

This picture was taken a few months ago, literally the day after the completion of what I thought was a conservation job on the windows, they having been cleaned up and painted over the previous few weeks as part of wider restoration including a magnificent reroofing job.

But after all that effort and expense was put in, bizarrely, as soon as the job was done – literally within a week or two if not mere days – the plate sashes were then all taken out, to be replaced with repro Georgian grids! It’s almost as if someone just came back from Dublin and discovered what was all the rage in ‘conservation’ jobs down south, and decided they’d like a bit of that too thanks very much! It’s nice to know at least that the Garda

Absolutely – that addition to College Green is fantastic tucked up in the eaves, its stark glazing contrasting with surrounding stock brick and the copper roofing below. It just works in that jumbled contest.

Building on top and in between existing stock is indeed an interesting and challenging concept; it isn’t that a ‘consensus’ has been reached on how inappropiate it is, but rather how poor the posted examples are, Francis Street in particular which is frankly ridiculous regardless of what stucture it sits on (looks like a mini-version of the DART extension at Connolly).
Cavendish Row might appear somewhat logical on straight-on profile:

…but of course the reality is that from ground level all you would see is a bit of nasty metal trim sticking above the balustrading, and a small amount of glazing from further back – all in all cluttering the roofline and detracting from the main structure itself, one of the finest corner-turning buildings in the city.

If the concept can be executed well, then go for it. I’d imagine there’s hundreds of examples in London in particular. If anyone could post more pics that would be good.

Often wondered Bren88 about what you mention there. Presumably the insulation is polystyrene slab or equivalant branded product, in which case how does the screed remain stable and intact on such a comparatively soft and moveable surface?
Could be comepletely off the mark here in how things are done…

And here was me getting excited thinking Temple Bar’s hot air balloon had arrived for the summer 😮 🙂

Well done indeed – that’s 63,000 pages a day!
What’s the usual monthly figure Paul?