GrahamH
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As far as I can make out Maskhadov it is to account for the rather undulating nature of this part of the street. One thing we tend not to consider with all this repaving is that all premises’ entrance floors must be flush and level with the exterior paving, which appears to be something of a problem here, on what is the oldest part of the street.
As Stephen mentioned, the most famous building in Ireland has finally been unveiled after months of being shrouded in scaffolding and mesh.
The General Post Office in all its bombastic glory looks simply spectacular 🙂
A certain lightness of touch and finesse in the design has emerged post-cleaning in spite of the general heavy weight of the architecture. The crisp detailed frieze and column fluting lends the building a certain delicacy that helps lighten the load, generating that classic Regency contrast between bold lines and elegant decoration.
It took many painstaking hours to restore the frieze to its former glory, especially as the contractors were forced to dress in period costume in accordance with an ancient stipulation laid down by Johnston when he went a bit mad towards the end:
😀
I think crestfield may be referring to the extension to Leinster Lawn(?), in which case I would agree.
@BTH wrote:
To suggest that this intervention is down to “fashion” or to create “dazzle” is quite misleading as it suggests that the extension is somehow frivolous or unnecessary.
A fair point BTH, though that was not my intention. However to claim that fashion does not play a part is to discard the fact that the use of features such as this uber-sheek glazing is made acceptable by these very trends. Were it not fashionable to use it – as it wouldn’]own site[/b] says: “the design for Charlemont House was unique in that it provided a majestic centrepiece for the streetscape and was unrivalled in Irish Georgian squares.”
This beautiful architectural composition has been destroyed 😡I think the H&M section suggests what sadly could have been for the whole facade. Instead we’ve that nice distinctive curved wall to one end, and then what looks like a completely different building to the other – as flat as a pancake, four storeys high with blanked out windows. Why even put in windows if you’re going to shove shelving units up against them? Hopefully they were only temporary as these pics were taken a good few weeks ago. Also the posting of the last pic above was not intended to suggest that that was the finished product (!), rather it just shows the nature of the cladding system.
Agreed about the shortening of the canopy, as well as the interaction with Roches who’s quality of finish, whatever about the scale of the place, is simply superb. The Ilac looks like a cheapo beige 80s bathroom next to a designer suite.
I think you’re misrepresenting the situation a boyle. It is not the use of glazing that offends, nor is it the absence of ‘sympathetic’ solid elements BTH suggested earlier; rather it is the imbalance created at the location but much more so (in my view anyway) the blatent intrusion that it is into this historic enclosure. Nothing ought to have been built – end of story. To build yet another extension to the other side is merely adding insult to injury.
And yes you’re quite right, advertising banners no doubt will be tacked onto it over time. Just as one thing leads to another, the previous inappropriate extension to the right-hand side acted as an excuse to further intensify the site with this glazed extension, which in turn may permit another extension to be built to the other side, which in turn will no doubt permit tacky ‘oh but they’re only temporary’ banners to be suspended on this most historic and architecturally significant set-piece.
And to be clear about the glazing, to be able to see through the top part of the facade through the ceiling beyond to the sky is what I was referring to previously as being of merit, not the exposure of a utilitarian stairwell and the sneaky masking of an extension jutting out from the National Ballroom.
This unique setting in Dublin of a mansion house framed by flanking purpose-designed terraces ought not have been touched with a barge-pole. This fashionable concept of inserting new structures into highly sensitive locations simply on the basis of their ‘radical’ materials has reached ridiculous proportions at Charlemont House – the idea having garnered acceptability amongst the architectural elite is now flung at nearly every project going, almost as a requirement in order to give the ‘conservation’ project a certain dazzle and get the tongues wagging. Some of it will be regretted into the future, and is sorely so already in this instance.
I don’t think it’s necessarily their fault – there’s only so many ways you can handle a bit of fancy glazing. It is the demands of their client that must be called into question, and the decision taken by planners, i.e. it is the very concept of filling in one side of the house that matters rather than how it is executed.
Obviously glazing is going to be adopted over solid elements as a given in such circumstances, so the architect is largely just left with the choice of what glazing to use – of marginal importance in the broader context of deciding to fill in the gap in the first place. The transparency of the finished structure to the top is very appealing, and the glazing has a certain finesse, but that’s not the point.
Also, the raw exposure of structural elements like the stairs and the internal walls is horribly crass for such a decorous set-piece. Such brutal ‘honesty’ is usually confined to interiors of historic complexes and generally works exceedingly well, but here it’s many more times invasive out of doors where there’s nothing else for it to interact with, and also you’ve no choice but to look at it.
Agreed Collins Barracks works very well, but here it should not have been permitted. Yes there was a small nasty extension here bofore the glazing that was less than pleasant, but it had nowhere near the impact that this structure does. And it was set back.The new Ilac facade to Mary Street is very disappointing – essentially a blank wall fitted with the usual blank windows to relieve what is little other than a cliff face, and clad with the equally ubiquitous stone tiling – all of which can be neatly ripped off again in ten years time and replaced with the latest trend in urban wallpaper.
No attempt is even made to conceal the tiling for what it is, with lazy gapng joints everywhere and capped off with delightful silcone sealant :rolleyes:. The stone is also cheap and vulgar looking – the same Spanish style muck used in every shopping centre being built nowadays.Some nice forms in the H&M section, but the Liffey Street end is very poor, and tops that street’s vista exceptionally poorly.
As for the demolished (with hopefully to be rebuilt facade…) Dunnes Stores on Henry Street, Dunnes are constructing what will be their flagship city centre store on the site as replacement to the current Ilac store on Moore Mall.
It will be over a huge four levels, featuring a ‘foodhall’, i.e. a supermarket :rolleyes:, a huge clothing area, and of course an expanded homewares section in all its beige ‘n brownness. It will be accessible from Henry Street and from the Ilac which it is going to entend into, consuming some of the existing units there. As if to make up for the loss, the existing shop in the Ilac is to be demolished and up to four large new units created from it. So big changes afoot.Work is to get underway on the Moore Street facade in April I think, with all of the facade works of the whole building finished by Nov/Dec this year. Red and tan brick is already peeping through the scaffolding on Parnell Street…
Some pics of the facade to Henry/Mary/Liffey Streets:
Just some pics of the riot damage. Luckily pretty much all of it was superficial – the public domain was ‘just’ made very very untidy rather than any lasting damage being done to furnishings or infrastructure. Not even pavements seem to be chipped which is a relief.
The shops that had their wondows smashed are Clarks, Foot Locker, Schuh, Eddie Rockets (minor), former Fingal HQ, and Findlater House. All of the street frontage of Fingal is now boarded up – don’t think it was like that before the riots.
A few scorch marks in places, and there’s a distinct burnt smell about the place. The only real damage in the public domain is a lamppost next to Sir John Grey, which a fire was lit against. It’s going to have to be stripped and repainted in matching paint please!
Some bins took a bit of a battering – unfortunately for the sake of a few nastly dents whole units are going to have to be replaced.
Most of the remaining rubble has been cleared to the median behind O’Connell Monument. None of the monuments have a scratch on them.The CC got in there impressively fast on Saturday to clean up, and all of the tree beds have already been re-gritted too.
Setts are being dug up and relaid in the Cow’s Lane area at the minute – difficult to see how they’re gong back down, though it would appear to be in the typical toothy fashion.
Ship Street has lovely tightly knitted setts just walking over them today. Such a pleasure in contrast with Temple Bar.
Just a couple of things from up on the Square.
The replica Georgian on the west side, probably the first ‘genuine’ attempt at such a building in 10 years in the capital, is finally in an advanced stage of construction. Granite sills are in place, and most of the Flemish bond brick is in place, a rare sight nowadays:
A large apartment block is being built to the rear…
Overall the right decision I think given the wider context of the impressive mid-18th century stepped streetscape here.Unfortunately the rest of the square most certainly is not a hive of activity – still some appalling scenes of dereliction a stone’s throw from the city’s main street:
…not dissimilar to the condition of many other the houses on the Gardniner Estate, as if the Celtic Tiger had never even happened.
Look at the difference with the restored house next door:
Passing the Hugh Lane/Charlemont House before Christmas I couldn’t believe my eyes at the new extension to the building – it is juxtaposing gone completely insane:
The setting of the house, and indeed the building itself has been destroyed by this astonishingly arrogant intrusion. The glazed wall is the epitome of ‘contrastisim’ in all its vulgarity and smug self-confidence: the practice of using ‘daring’ materials in the generation of a juxtaposition of styles to excuse the insertion of pretty much anything into a special, usually historic environment.
The architects Gilroy McMahon say the glazed extension is “the only opportunity we had to advertise what’s going on in here”. Indeed.
I am sick of the ‘cutting edge’ excuse being used in the permitting of historic environments to be invaded on, and this is the practice at its very very worst. Indeed it has little to do with the Georgian environment – of much greater concern is the complete upsetting of the architectural composition of the house and flanking terraces, both in their own right and in the wider context of their uniqueness in the city.
It beggars belief what has been permitted up there – sure why don’t we glaze in the courtyards of the Four Courts while we’re at it, or how about some nice shimmering plates of infill to rid us of those nasty drafty gaps in the colonnade of the Bank of Ireland? We won’t even notice them – sure they’re all modern like, our brains will just blank them out :rolleyes:
GUBU 😡
@Frank Taylor wrote:
interminable roadworks
Indeed if any good has come of these events it has been the bringing to wider public attention the ludicrous timeframe of the O’Connell Street Project. Amongst other media outings, a gloriously ranting e-mail made it through to Pat Kenny this morning regarding the IAP works that really put the authorities to shame.
It would appear that a certain self-styled Grecian arcade provided much of the ammunition for the fun and games – unintentionally of course. Never would security permit so many snooker tables be rendered useless I’m quite quite sure.
Not that this really relates to development on the street, but what really baffles me about all of this is the fact that the parade was permitted to take place on a building site. Of course this has been said time and time again since the events and with the benefit of the 20/20 vision of hindsight, but whilst it might not have struck most of us, the public, beforehand, it most certainly ought to have struck the Garda
What an ugly building ^
Presumably 1 is so recognisable for all as to render it unnecessary to be commented on 🙂
I’ve always liked their floodlighting – one of the few, is not the only building in the city that uses what appears to be regular tungsten lamps: they generate a nice warm but clear glow unlike nasty sodium.3 is Iveagh Play House. 5 was very well spotted – would never have got that! The stonework and its condition is strikingly similar to St. Georges.
The building site works were aptly described as an ‘amunitions dump’ this evening – nearly every missile-throwing picture you see is that of thugs with blocks of granite in their hands. Similarly the fires were fuelled by their timber pallets, and the railings and other materials acted as ideal window-smashing implements.
This from one photographer – not credited:
(with tourists looking on)And the fire near the Spire:
I mean how did the situation arise that Garda
http://static.flickr.com/38/104192110_00afef8924.jpg?v=0
What is this going to do for Dublin’s image abroad?
Good God – it is a warzone down there. An absolute disaster.
The Upper end has been destroyed – all of the construction railings are chucked in a massive pile outside the Gresham, and there is smashed glass and mortar covering what seems to be the entire Upper street like a blanket. Even burning wood and other rubbish beside the Spire.
On the Lower end there’s more missiles and glass everywhere outside Easons and a couple of Shinners were trashing one of the new bins there – I can only imagine the damage done to the trees and other furniture. Reports of looting from some premises, and there was a burning car with billowing smoke on Nassau St.
Most businesses on prinicpal streets have closed.Far from previous concerns over Unionists causing trouble, it appears to be 300 or so ‘breakway’ Shinners who see fit to trash their own city. Nice.
The place really is like a warzone – how embarrassing given the level of tourist couples who flood Dublin at the weekends.
Extended Six One tonight.
25/2/2006
Alas I spoke too soon on the other thread about the removal of foliage around Carrolls – its merely being replaced with trees 😡
Whilst there’s still very fine views to be had of the building between the trees, the magical setting of the building’s island effect, sited in a lake of green lawns has been destroyed :(.
Seeing the grass run right up to the road was so refreshing – and the impact of the trees is going to be even worse come summer, as elegant and structural as they may be.You can see the ‘ha-ha’ ditch here – it seems this is to be replanted too given the shrubbery that seem to be in boxes everywhere 🙁
Still looks is best in the morning mist or the evening sun, as below. Its sheer elegance never fails to catch the eye – I’ve never grown tired of it, passing it nearly every day for years at this stage.
Stunning
What lovely things to have. What a ridiculous price to pay!
Yes it appears to be a square ‘effect’ rather than an actual square that Johnston was going for with Princes Street and Henry Street. I’ve seen a larger version and the flanking terraces are very striking indeed. Don’t know if he just painted the houses in as a mere idealised backdrop to his building, or if the terraces were actually proposed. Somehow the former seems more likely…
Nice chimneys and roofline there in the style of the Four Courts. It became a heaving mass of stacks by the late 19th century, as per the Custom House.
