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@justnotbothered wrote:
I would love to have seen the Boatclub re-engage with the city in a meaningful way, how, by moving to the soon to be regenerated Island field. I know it’s a little off the wall, but it makes sense.
I agree with that to be honest. I like the buildings but i think they are very nondescript in their current location. Moving them would mean the buildings are saved and a very interesting site could be used to its full potential..
This site needs something very special and keeping these two buildings at this location for the sake of keeping the buildings is a waste imho@justnotbothered wrote:
But what do think of what’s proposed?
It’d be great for intimate gigs. The smaller club house could remain as a bar or coffee house or anything. Plenty of places for outdoor seating for example.
.In another location yes..but in its current spot a music venue is not suitable. When it was used as one on several occasions there were drunk kids literally falling onto the busiest bridge in the city..not to tarnish all who went there with that brush but it was a common occurence in my own experience. Unless proper access is sorted its uses are limited. BUT i do agree that a suitable use should be agreed on before a building design is decided on. Its a decent size site overall so something worthwhile is very possible..I personally think a venue/coffee shop would be a complete waste of this site.
AS for what i think of the current proposal, i like some elements (the glass front – albeit too high) and dislike some (side profiles and lack of windows).
Personally I would like to see UL have one of their smaller faculties use this site…maybe with imput from the School of Arhitecture..It would bring the University into the heart of the city(sorely lacking) and really add something to the city..A coffee shop would not have the same effect imo.If the city needs a music venue i’d prefer to see the resoration of the long closed Limerick Athenaeum(Theatre Royal)
Probably going to get slated here but its my opinion.
While protected, those structures just look like old sheds to me. NOthing particularly beautiful about either structure on that side of the bridge. The Boat house itself is a nice building externally but the two red brick structures are pretty poor imo. As far as I can see neither really interact with the river/bridge or city in any way. They are hidden when driving across the bridge, they look like crap from the city side and you would barely notice them from the Shannon bridge. Internally there is also very little to retain or restore.
I also can’t see any worthwhile uses for them as they stand that would really bring any real benefit to the city. One was used as a music venue for some time and while it served a purpose for a small few, it was not the right place for a music venue of that nature. Internally you would never, ever think you were in a protected structure. It was like a dingy GAA club. If there are any original features in there they are well hidden.
Overall I really dont think they add anything amazing to the city or river in their current form. While I would like to see some devlopment on the site I think it needs to be sympathetic to the boat house itself, i’m not too worried about the two red brick structures…If the right building was proposed for the site, and I think someone with vision could propose something a bit better than what is currently on the table, I would have no objection to these being demolished OR in fact, moving them and reconstructing them somewhere they may be of more value to the city. Buildings this size have been moved and reconstructed many times,,,,why not this?
I’m all for preservation/conservation but not for the sake of it and I think this is a building that really doesnt merit so much attention. There is much more interesting buildings in the city that deserve more attention than this is getting..
Just my opinion though
interestingly this line appeared in a previous article in the same paper..
But Joe Clarke, manager of Trinity Rooms, said they would be delighted to be part of the Opera Centre, which he believes will breathe more life into the city centre, and confirmed that they will not be forced to find another venue for the club.
Obviously not getting what they want..
@KeepAnEyeOnBob wrote:
Actually I think the old restored warehouse is nicely shown up against the Marriot etc. It’s even more of an interesting feature now with it being entirely freestanding and surrounded by the modern buildings.
Agreed. Understand BTH’s point but you have to take the Marriot in the context of that whole area of Bedford Row and Henry Street. It works very well but maybe not from that particular image. I’d also prefer mirrored glass to more plastic green copper wannabe tacked down the side of the building and it does work excellently on Riverpoint. The reflections of the sunset on Riverpoint are quite breathtaking at times. Some excellent exmaples on Flickr
@CologneMike wrote:
Limerick Boat Club
Fair enough Michael, Sean but maybe you could upload larger images onto your web sites so that we can get a better, more detailed impression of your proposal.From the inital images, i have to say I klind of like it but that my own opinion. I do like the old boat club but it does look like a shed and sometimes I feel the site is a bit wasted. Depending on the details my opinion could change though. Its a delicate site but this looks like it could work ..(if cheap green cladding or some such nonsense doesnt appear..)
@Fairy wrote:
Ellen St and lower Patrick St, has become a ‘free for all’ for all freebie advertising ie, bill posters . The defacing of the buildings are an arrogant and an insult to existing business, in the designated area,
Fairy100% agree fairy. Was around town today and the amount of ugly posters and flyers tacked onto buildings all over the place is an absolute disgrace. I’ve heard Dublin and Cork have taken action in recent weeks to stop fly posting and I would hope that LCC would take similar action soon. The venues/promoters should be fined for this. Its not hard to find them..their details are on the posters.The old Ormston House in particular is just a poster wall at this stage and the villains are just layering poster on top of posters. The least they could do is take down their old ones. Who would one complain to in LCC?
@Rory W wrote:
God that close up looks worse – glorifed travel-lodge architecture
:Dbest description yet..it really does look like a TravelLodge. I’ve only been down here a couple of times (and in fairness not very recently)but the whole thing does look very cheap. Those red poles and the green lighting are tacky central imo..Even the “red carpet” looks cheap
The centrepiece of the development will be a 12-storey building with a sloping public park on its roof. The park, which will cover more than an acre, will be accessed by cable car.
Will they have an interconnect with the cable cars along the Liffey…sure who needs the Luas..:D
@Tuborg wrote:
Former Central Cinema Bedford Row
Work is continuing at an impressive rate on the site of the former cinema on Bedford Row, the new facade is virtually complete with the cladding and glazing now in place. The facade of the old methodist chapel dating from the 1840s has been retained behind the new frontage, although its difficult to tell from the picture just how visible it will be. The new building will house retail space on the ground floor with offices overhead.
Image from tippryan at the Limerick Blogger
Passed this today for the first time in ages and it looks great now that you can see the facade all cleaned up inside the glass. Will indeed look good at night if lit correctly. Bedford row looks and feels great now that shops are opening up along there. Same for Thomas Street. Nice little café buzz growing along there on a Sunday afternoon. Pedestrianisation has made a good impact on these streets imho!
Building / renovation work seems to go hand in hand with it though!Thought this was part of the original plans but from todays Zaminer..more Parkway fun.. First line says it all really
PLANS have been lodged with Limerick County Council for an Olympic size ice rink in the city.
The facility will be sited at the Parkway Retail Park on the Dublin Road.
Alocin Ltd, the company behind the huge project, also wants to incorporate an extensive range of other recreation facilities under the one roof and these include a bowling facility with up to 12 lanes and multimedia entertainment areas. It is also proposed to provide a huge food hall adjacent to the ice rink.
And the planning application also sets out specifications for a huge restaurant and food area, which will have up to 15 separate units.The planning application also sets out areas which will be given over to health and leisure activities, a library and office space.
The overall floor area will cover 83,068 sq m and it will be located adjacent to the N7 at Singland.
2,169 car parking spaces will be provided in the multi-storey structure.
A temporary ice rink has been erected at Merchant’s Quay over the Christmas holiday period in recent years and has been a huge success attracting thousands of visitors from the wider region.
One source said: “The temporary ice rink has shown the way in that it proved there is great public appetite for ice rink skating. This is a very exciting development and the fact that it is so close to the University of Limerick campus is another great plus.â€
There’s still a retail element to the new development so there will still be retail traffic. The completion of the Shannon Tunnel should really be expected to have an impact on traffic here should it not? It should take some fraction of through traffic away?
I also think its not 100% the Parkway area thats the problem, more so what it feeds into. For exampple the Dublin road itself from the Parkway to the junction at the A1 bar really needs work . 2 lanes is just not enough in this part of town and the surface of the road itself at this point is poor. Childers Road is still a disaster and reqaally could take widening past the Retail Park and beyond heading towards Roxboro.
I also feel that the new bridge by the Grove Island development and access to it from the Dublin road really needs to be highlighted better. I know many people(including myself) who still continue into Baalsbrige to get to Corbally/Grove island..mainly out of habit and passing the right turn at that school without even thinking.Another hotel?? Surely we have enough already..the hotel offering in Limerick is pretty well covered..Off the top of my head recent additions to the hotel market include..
The Clarion,
Clarion Suites,
Absoltue Hotel
The George Hotel,
The Marriot,
The Hilton,
Punches,
Barrington St (underway)
Park Point..(underway0not to mention the older offerings..the Raddison, Greenhills, Castletroy Park, Pery, South Court etc..
Thats a serious hotel offering for any small city like Limerick. Do the hoteliers know something we don;t?
Luxury hotel for Limerick’s Parkway Centre
By Nick Rabbitts
DEVELOPERS are planning a multi-million Euro facelift of the Parkway Shopping Centre that includes a four-star hotel, 45 apartments, offices and retail stores, according to plans to be lodged with Limerick City Council.
Work on the ageing retail park could begin as early as next year, after Dublin-based developers Lindat announced their intention to lodge an application with Limerick City’s Planning Authority shortly.The redevelopment of the shopping centre includes a new office building and 45 new apartments, alongside a four star hotel, set to accommodate close to 100 people.
And it looks as if a popular pub on the Dublin Road could be bulldozed if Limerick City Council give the go-ahead to the proposal, as the developer’s plans include the demolition of the Park Bar, to make way for more retail space.
Cllr Kieran Walsh, chairman of the Planning Committee who will debate the application, said the bar’s closure is a small price to pay for improving the site.
“It is the nature of change, and some things have to go,” said Cllr Walsh.
@Griff wrote:
… i know this isnt a solution – but id nearly prefer to see the 1970s flats at the corner of the strand and the Ennis road knocked and the new apartments sited there..
QFT. Love to see that development flattened too!
You probably posted the most flattering view of that newish development on the left. The other side is horrendous with all that green cladding tacked on. it is quite possibly one of the worst devlopments in Galway imo. I lived in the devlopment on the far right with the stone cladding up until last year
That little tower/museum thing also hides some of the most awful apartments you will ever see (possibly 1960’s/1970’s) in the middle of that block.Just my opinion though!
@BTH wrote:
I don’t know about the practicalities of the place but in my opinion it has to qualify as possibly the ugliest, most unwelcoming developments of it’s type that I’ve ever seen. A collection of bog standard silver boxes would be more visually pleasing than what we’ve ended up with. And the worst thing is that it’s obvious a huge amount of design, fine detailing and expense has been gone to to make it. I really think the black stained timber was a huge mistake and the signage is perhaps the tackiest i’ve ever seen – the huge yellow BRIARHILL is truly vile – even the typeface is awful.
Anyway rant over – I do appreciate that a lot of architectural thought and effort has gone into the building but the end result to my eyes is a bit of a disaster…Actually got to see this devlopment the other day and would agree with all of the above. It is pretty hideous in fairness.
From todays IT Commercial property section..Also mentions the same rumour I heard earlier in the year that Brown Thomas was possibly to relocate to the Opera Centre and we will eventually see the back of that ugly building dominating O’Connell Street. Would be great if they do. Better image of the entrance to the Opera Centre at the corner of Ellen Street and Patrick Street which looks a lot better than the original one the Post and Leader had. Will see if I can scan in..it doesn’t seem to be online.
Full article here” The new Opera shopping centre – planned for the centre of Limerick by Gerry O’Reilly, Terry Sweeney and David Courtney – was unveiled at a time when two more shopping centres are under construction in the city and two others are to be redeveloped.
The timing of the Opera project may well be fortuitous because Limerick is the only Irish city to have allowed out-of-town shopping centres to grow like topsy at the expense of the traditional shopping streets in the city centre. It is also the only Irish city where out-of-town retail rents are higher than on the high streets – a serious indictment of the way the city council has managed shopping developments.
The Opera scheme has the potential to help shift the balance back in favour of the city because it will involve the regeneration of a large block of rundown buildings, some almost opposite Arthur’s Quay shopping centre and running around the corner to Bank Place and Michael Street at the rear.
The plan is to provide 40,000sq m (430,556sq ft) of shopping space on two main levels and two smaller top floors, much of it in modern shopping malls behind Georgian facades.
The well located site was quietly assembled over the years by Northern Ireland businessmen Sam Morrison and Sunil Sharma who later sold it for a reputed €100 million.
Larry Brennan of Savills HOK will be letting agent for the centre which will have two main anchor tenants and about 40 shop units. The promoters will obviously be hoping that Brown Thomas may fill one of those anchor units by moving down from its tired store on O’Connell Street.
The Opera centre will also have a foodcourt to seat 500 people. Otherwise it will be aimed at fashion and lifestyle retailers. The development is likely to trigger an upgrading of the Arthur’s Quay shopping centre which has dated rapidly despite the fact that it is not yet 20 years in business.Also due to be redeveloped is the rundown Parkway shopping centre on the Dublin Road which was acquired last year by Pat Doherty’s Harcourt Group. A few hundred yards away, Liam Carroll is building Parkway Valley shopping centre in competition with the impressive new Dunnes Stores on nearby Childers Road. And on the opposite end of the city, Tesco is to anchor a new shopping centre known as Coonagh Cross on the Ennis Road. It will be only a short distance from the new Jetland Centre anchored by Dunnes and still struggling to make its mark.”
Will be an interesting one to see how it turns out. The site is absolutely huge. I hope its not that green stuff they are going to tack on the side of it.
i dont know how anyone can conclude that this is a great design from the images seen so far. I kind of like it in many ways but i kind of also think it will look like a giant heap of crap in a few years time..it really all depends on the finer details..none of which anyone can tell from the images released to date.
In a city which is predominantly lo-rise it quite possibly could turn out to be the most dominant heap of junk you will see anywhere.Tall does not automatically mean great design and some people just want it built so that Dublin can have a tall building..plenty of “just build it already ” comments and that would be a serious mistake imo. In a city like New York or maybe even London you might get away with it but in Dublin if its poor it will stick out like a very big sore thumb on a very small hand
