hutton

@GregF wrote:

Where was An Taisce to raise concerns about the fate of this particular building.

They had an observation in on the most recent application, did you?

Re the yellow brick school closer to Cathal Brugha St, afaik the school wanted the structure to be built so that it would be able to take the load of further floors in future years – however it was the mandarins in the dept of Education that penny-pinched, and so blocked even that option. I suspect the same said mandarins live in polite middle class suburbs on the southside…

Re the general decline of Protestant Churches in the city centre – this has as much to do with the historical post-treaty demographic shifts of the Free State, as much as anything else – particularly from the inner-city (white flight)… That and possibly over-ambitious developments during the period of the evangelical movements, which often never had the populations needed to be sustainable in the first instance.

@Peter Fitz wrote:

I wouldn’t mind moore street so much if the black sections were set back and eh, not black ! I’m much more concerned about the adverse impact to the scale & form of Henry Street which for me is the achilles heel of the entire project. I can’t make up my mind if what they now propose for the O’Connell Street elevations is better or worse than what they originally proposed, or even worthy of such thought.

Yeah it’s fairly desperate stuff on Henry Street also – it strikes me that Henry Steet facades could be kept, and re-interpreted – a lá Mick Wallaces Little Italy, yet this scheme however really sets out to make statement, and it just doesn’t work…

It’ll be a remarkable balls-up if this scheme entangles primarily because of a wall paper ideology!

@EnergRecru wrote:

The NEIC IAP, prepared by Dublin City Council, identified the area around the existing church on Sean McDermott Street as a flagship site for re-development of Community based facilities. As part of the masterplan a need for a new Community Complex was identified to upgrade and further develop existing community based Projects and activities such as the Lourdes Youth and Community Services, the Neighbourhood Youth Project and the Adventure Sports Project, all of which are based in the existing Ruthland St. School and the adjoining School-on-Stilts.The overall proposal is to relocate the above existing groups and their activities in new purpose-built accommodation arising out of an extensive consultation and design process with each of the groups. The proposed Community Complex is a three/four storey building, being 2998sqm in overall floor area. Each user group is provided with its separate entrance so as to create its own identity within the complex and to enable them to relate individually to the proposed surrounding re-development of the overall area. In addition it is proposed to include a separate Creche facility for 35 children at ground level for Dublin City Council. An enclosed hard surface / external area is to be provided between the Church and the proposed building.

Fair enough – but there’s feck all architectural resolution with the Doric facade as is evident by the proposal, as seen in link below…

@Devin wrote:

There’s a plan to consume it within a glazed building – image: https://archiseek.com/content/showpost.php?p=77201&postcount=30

@Paul Clerkin wrote:

Personally I reckon it’s toast and would be very surprised if it goes ahead. And frankly would be quite happy to see the back of that particular design.

+1… it was all very egg-otistical 😮

So what odds on Clarence being next to be shelved?

@ihateawake wrote:

Is this still progressing with the current state of things?

Apparently so – from today’s Sunday Business Post:

Northern Quarter close to signing up retailers for prime central Dublin site

Sunday, October 12, 2008 By Gavin Daly

The owners of the planned €750 million Northern Quarter in central Dublin are close to sealing deals with retailers for the scheme, according to the project’s manager, John Laker.

He said that work on the development, which includes a major expansion of the Arnotts department store, would start next summer, despite the economic downturn.

Laker was chairman of Centros, a British firm that was working with Arnotts on the Northern Quarter, but has just left the company, taking the Dublin project with him. He will now manage the development through his firm, LDM, which employs four people at an office in Dublin and expects to increase staff as the project develops.

A further three to four people in Arnotts are also working on the development, according to Laker. He said that the team was focusing on detailed designs for the Northern Quarter, including some ‘‘non-controversial changes to help it on its way’’.

As well as revamped Arnotts and Penneys stores, the Northern Quarter is to include a four-star hotel, 47 shops, 14 cafes and bars, 121 apartments and 350 parking spaces. In total, it will have almost one million square feet of commercial space, bordered by Henry Street and O’Connell Street.

‘‘We are getting secondary anchorage retailers at the moment and will soon make some announcements,” said Laker.

‘‘It is actually easier to let to tenants for schemes that are three to four years away. This [recession] is a cycle and we will come out of it. Retailers still need to take good attractive space to maintain their market share.”

Laker said he was a ‘‘total believer’’ in the Northern Quarter scheme, which has been put together over several years by Arnotts chief executive Richard Nesbitt and is backed by Boundary Capital and Anglo Irish Bank. ‘‘As a retail-led development, it’s probably the best opportunity I’ve come across in my 30-odd years in this business,” said Laker.

‘‘It involves creating a new street running parallel with one of the two prime streets in a major European capital. It will be the new flagship retail area. It has very strong shareholders in Richard Nesbitt and Niall McFadden [of Boundary], and it has got a great trading entity in Arnotts. If this doesn’t go ahead, nothing will,” he said.

Following objections to the original planning by groups including An Taisce, the Railway Procurement Agency and An Post , An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for the scheme in July with 26 conditions. It reduced the size of the scheme and did not approve plans for a 16-storey tower, meaning its tallest elements will be seven storeys high.

‘‘I am very disappointed they gave us a crew cut on it, but we are pleased overall – getting approval was an achievement in itself,” said Laker, who described his first experience of the Irish planning system as ‘‘quite an unusual process’’.

‘‘There is a lot of genuine support for this scheme and for Arnotts as a brand name,” he said. Laker said that reports that Centros had a 20 per cent stake in the Northern Quarter development were not accurate.

‘‘It was talked about, but it never happened – there were discussions, but once they got Anglo and McFadden, it was not needed.”

He said that preliminary work on the Northern Quarter would start in the middle of next year. The scheme is expected to take at least four years to complete. ‘‘I am very happy to be taking this on,” said Laker. ‘‘I wouldn’t be moving if I wasn’t.”

Laker worked at Centros for 12 years, first as development director and later as managing director and then chairman.

He said the decision to leave Centros was ‘‘a very amicable parting of ways’’ and said that his former employer was in a healthy financial state.

Earlier this year, Centros shelved plans for a town centre scheme in Dumfries in Scotland.

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=36653-qqqx=1.asp

These fecking yokes are proving as popular as ever…

Anger over ‘ugly’ advertising structures

WEDNESDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2008
A CONTROVERSIAL new advertising structure in Dublin 7 has been described as a “deadly distraction”.
The JC Decaux ‘metropoles’ caused uproar when some were erected in the inner city, and one was recently put up on a path along the Navan Road.
They are being provided throughout the city in a deal with Dublin City Council under which the French firm will provide a bike rental scheme.
The illuminated scrolling advertising structures have been met with criticism from many who believe they are a health and safety risk.
“They are a danger, a distraction and an eyesore,” claimed Mike Keegan, vice chairman of the Navan Road Community Council.
“This metropole is not like a billboard; it is a brightly lit rotating advert which is placed close to traffic lights.
“It poses a real distraction to drivers on what is a busy road.”
He added: “Someone with impaired vision could seriously injure themselves if they accidentally walked into it.”
According to Mr Keegan, many local residents were surprised when the structure was erected back in July.
“The notice for planning permission for the metropole was put up in a very discreet place,” he claimed.
“That is why only a few people submitted objections to the structure even though most of us are very much opposed to it.”

According to Cllr Emer Costello (Lab) the metropoles are “incredibly ugly, obscene and distracting structures”.
“They are a hindrance to the blind, to people with buggies or wheelchairs and to drivers,” she told Northside People.
“I also worry that Dublin City Council could be open for liability if they are the cause of an accident.”
Permission for the advertising structures across 100 Dublin locations was granted in exchange for the provision of a city bike rental scheme.
The deal is estimated to be worth in the region of e1 million.
However, according to Cllr Costello clarification is needed on the public’s cut of the deal.
“Where is the free bike scheme we were promised?” she asked.
“Why have so many of these signs gone up and yet we still don’t seem to be benefiting from the scheme which was guaranteed in return for such a lucrative advertising arrangement.”
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council revealed that talks in relation to the bike scheme are still ongoing.
“We do expect that the bike scheme will be rolled out early next year,” it was stated.
According to the spokesperson, a health and safety audit had been carried out on the JC Decaux structures erected so far.
On foot of the audit, a structure in Rathmines was deemed unsuitable and has already been removed.
Another on Dorset Street was “replaced and repositioned”.
“All other structures have passed our inspections which are carried out in according to the best standard of practices,” the spokesperson added.

http://www.dublinpeople.com/content/view/1068/55/

Another on Dorset Street was “replaced and repositioned”.

Is that so DCC, no doubt there was a fresh planning application? There was like fuck… Unauthorized developments facilitated by the local authority – Shame on you DCC 😡

@StephenC wrote:

Is G on St Georges Church at Hardwicke Place

Correct, it is indeed 🙂

@gunter wrote:

‘J’ and ‘S’ are a pair, and a high class pair at that.

They are screwed into the front facade at first floor level of no. 40 Bolton Street (3 doors from the Henrietta St corner).

The house is a probable former ‘Billy’, like no. 39 next door, which is how this picture found itself in gunter’s collection.

Correct also – real craftsmanship going on here 😀

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

Don’t suppose it’s in Dublin Castle?

@GrahamH wrote:

Lovely addition to the Wall of Horror.

My eyes hurt. 🙁

Iirc that tri-vision billboard is unauthorized.