vitruvius
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Why STW indeed?
I suppose DIT know exactly what they’re going to get – Chinese granite, metal grilles, wood panelled glazed atria – all very nice but a bit plain and lacking in ambition – reflective of DIT’s managment structure so at least they’ll feel at home in itYes, very nice – fits in very well and brightens up the street. Don’t see it as evil – it’s all curved and moulded in grey plastic – like the dashboard in a car.
One thing that iritates me about the building is the clunkiness and heaviness of the doors – the contrast of a vorsprung durch tecnik type building, all polished granite and glass and these fat clumsy doors. The d(evil) is in the details.Another case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand aspires to.
Limerick corporation have invested a lot of time and money in the last 10 years on improving and conserving the historic King’s Island area. And, despite some horrible pastiche they have done an admireable job. The area from Thomond bridge to Baal’s bridge is quite cohesive, quite beautiful.
Walking between these bridges you span the evolution of the city from early medieaval and Viking to the Georgian Newtown.
It has a varied skyline – St. Mary’s and Cathedral, St. Munchin’s church and the Catholic St. Mary’s church.
Anything that would obliterate these views could not be countenanced. Surely such a large building would be out of scale with the area. The only large building in the area is the Museum in King John’s. Controversial though it is, I really like it – but it only works because it is viewed as a colossus, its mass signifying importance. Also, being a civic building, and not a ‘for profit’ building like an hotel lend it a certain level of architectural licence.
There are plenty of examples of domestic 16th and 17th century architecture in this area, an area which to this day is 95% residential. A building such as that proposed will be a mistake.
I had to laugh at the wooden windows bit in the press clipping – wow, just think they’ll be nearly as elegant as the windows in the newer O’Mahony Pike @zoe/danninger developments. Imagine – once upon a time, people tried to minimise glazing bars and astragals – what were they thinking of!I agree, very impressive but, (there’s always a but) there’s a ridiculouss waste of space between it and Nassau St. – in the manner of that other waste of space between lovely Luce hall and Pearse St.
I’m going to sound like a politician in election year but both of ye are right.
Even doubling the public transport provision in this city will not eliminate congestion since the numbers of people driving cars is steadily rising.
Such measures are necessary in order to make people change their habits and use public transport.
I acknowledge that for some people the daily trek by car into town is an unavoidable reality. The measures proposed by Mr. livingstone (I presume!)envisage a falloff of 10 to 20% in the amount of cars entering the designated area – just enough to make things more comfortable for the motorist. It is not a definitive solution but it’s a step in the right directionYour right – the bit of cleaned up Westland row looks nice – but it still looks a bit dead. The facades are well conserved but the interiors have been dreadfully defaced by Trinity. I suppose it is always going to be a difficult job to convert a row of dwelling houses to another use but there are some inconguities E.g. the presence of a zeta-meter in the Wildes piana nobile!
I thought Elan had paid for that Scott Tallon Walker box (not another one) that is the School of Pharmacy/Panoz institute? Their largesse obviously knows no bounds if they are subsidising more building work in TrinityQuite like those cuddly Esso Tigers.
I especially like the one that straddles “the Gandon Hall” outside Ballybrittas. – reduces the austerity a bit!
– like wrapping the Reichstag in feltIt’s not simply a case of the filthy Irish piggies – there seems to be no sense of corporate responsibility for litter in Ireland. For example foothpaths in front of, and stone frontages of, the Westin Hotel and Fireworks nightclub are constantly vomit strewn. I would have thought that the management of these places would at least be houseproud and get someone to clear up the mess – 5 minutes with a power washer!
I agree – but all we are saying is that if there were no loopline bridge and we needed a rail connection across the Liffey – we would (or at least I hope we would) take account of the visual impact it would cause and try to minimise the negative visual impact.
Pointless argument, agreed, because I don’t foresee any major changes to the structure – there are more worthy projects.
However it is vitally important that we constantly appraise the city in a visual sense – not the most important criterion but still important to create a sense of placeUntil such time as domestic architecture grows up and leaves the cosy vic/ed nostalgia behind I’m afraid we will see a lot more of this kind of thing – the shock of the new and all that.
Why , oh why can CIE not keep their stations clean? Even Clontarf Road and Grand Canal Dock stations have already become shabby and dirty.
God love CIE, but can they not acquire some decent station furniture? – their hodge -podge of corrugated iron and tube metal structures may look ok (just about) on a farm but they look dreadful.
Shame that CIE bashing is so easyThe replacement structure designed by Kavanagh Mansfield in 1995 doesn’t really open up the views of the custom house as intended – i.e. replacing the admittedly ugly bridge with a slimmer model won’t make a whit of a difference.
Would the developer please buils apartments on this site – I want a nice penthouse with a clear view of the custom house on one side and the port on the other.
Might be nice if the building was used for the sort of department store concept originally envisaged for the Habitat site.
I agree, walking up from Clarion Quay this morning the ‘rockets’ shimmered like the emerald city – aah brave new Dublin. Pity that this glimmering building is marred by the city in the background!
They provide a welcome exclamation mark in the skyline.
However, nono is right – when(!) the Tara St. redevelopment goes ahead that block will be a bit obtrusive.The block will be be a bit isolated – with much more low rise buildings surrounding it.
Perhaps the redevelopment of Hawkin’s House should be a bit more ambitious. The new roofline is an improvement but the whole building still remains stocky – maybe some sort of vertical axis would provide an echo of the Ulster Bank turrets.
About time they did something with the church.
Does anyone know who designed the office block on the side of the square opposite the old hospital entrance?
