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Buildings at Risk

Carlton Cinema, O'Connell Street, Dublin

The Irish Georgian Society has lodged an appeal against Dublin City Council’s decision to grant permission for Chartered Land Limited’s proposal for the re-development of the five and a half acres site at O’Connell Street Upper.

The Society’s many reservations about the proposals that were outlined previously to Dublin City Council remain and our main points of objection relate to the following:

1. the insertion of a new plaza on O’Connell Street, which will detract from the   18^th century urban form of this fine street.

2. the excessive height of the proposed development;

3. the proposal to demolish protected structures;

4. the proposal to relocate two protected structures;

Prior to elaborating on our above concerns the Society wishes to reiterate that we welcome the long over due and desperately needed restoration of 42 O’Connell Street. Designed by Richard Castle, 42 is the only mid-18^th century building to survive on this street, formerly called Gardiner’s Mall. Over the last three decades the upper floors of this splendid interior have deteriorated to an alarming degree and the Society is relieved that they are at last to be restored.

Similarly the Irish Georgian Society welcomes the proposed restoration of the Protected Structures and National Monuments, numbers 14 – 17 Moore Street and the proposal to use No. 16 as a museum/interpretative centre. These buildings, which are not only of architectural significance but also historical significance on account of being the location of the last headquarters of the Provisional Government during the 1916 Rising, have been neglected in recent decades and the Society greatly welcomes the proposals for their restoration. The Society notes and agrees with Dublin City Council’s condition that the 18^th century staircase identified in the Conservation Officer’s report be retained.

However, despite these two significant conservation gains the Society is of the opinion that overall proposals for the five and a half acre site will have a seriously detrimental impact on the built environment.

1. Insertion of a new plaza on O’Connell Street, which will detract from the 18^th century urban form of this fine street

O’Connell Street is of great historic and civic importance and has developed a ceremonial function equivalent to Paris’s Champs Elysee. Dublin City Council has recently made great investments in the upgrading the urban design of the street, through well considered planting, lighting and landscaping, as well as the addition of the splendid Spire, all of which respect and enhance the historic urban form of O’Connell Street. It is the Society’s opinion that the new plaza proposed for O’Connell Street does not, as the applicant’s conservation report states ‘create a sense of revitalisation to the streetscape’ (p.39) but rather represents a gouge and open wound on the historic streetscape.

The Society supports the Department of the Environment Heritage and Local Government’s Development Applications Unit’s view, as cited in their letter submitted on the 30^th May 2008 (Ref: DAU-2008-DU-DC-08-2479) to Dublin City Council that the proposed plaza with its largely glass elevation to the street is at odds with the masonry buildings typical of this area of the city and would ‘damage the integrity of one of the most important architectural and urban design set-pieces of the country.’

The Society considers that the proposal, which ranges from 3-storeys to 13-storeys, is excessively high and out of keeping with the character of O’Connell Street. The Society notes that the applicant refers to the 13-storey building, which is toped with a roof garden, which in turn is reached by a ‘sky lift’, as being ‘iconic’. The Society considers the roof garden and ‘sky lift’ to be gimmicks which are submitted by way of an apology for this overly high and insensitive development. The term ‘iconic’ seems to be reserved for the overblown.

Again the Irish Georgian Society supports DoEHLG’s view that erecting a 13-storey building within the O’Connell Street Architectural Conservation Area would damage the character of the ACA and the setting and visual amenity of a number of highly-significant protected structures, in particular the General Post Office. And agrees that it would set ‘an inappropriate and unacceptable precedent for other over-scaled buildings within the historic core of Dublin City.’ 

The Society strongly objects to the proposal to demolish 6 of the 8 protected structures on O’Connell Street and the decision only to retain their facades. The Society notes that in the Dublin City Development Plan, 2005-11 only the facades of these buildings are listed on the RPS, nonetheless the Society does not agree with the principle of façade retention and argues that this is contrary to best conservation practice. 

The Society strongly objects to the ‘weird science’ of relocating two Protected Structures, namely the interior of the O’Connell Hall and the façade of the Carlton Cinema. The O’Connell Hall, designed by George P. Beater at the end of the 19^th century is of no small architectural significance and contains fine decorative plasterwork housed in a handsome building. The Society refutes the applicant claim that ‘its external shell is of no architectural value or significance’ as a justification for demolition. (p.15). The Society considers that the entire structure, exterior and interior of the O’Connell Hall, should be preserved in situ.

Similarly the Irish Georgian Society objects to the relocation of the handsome Carlton Cinema façade, which dates to 1937 and is an excellent example of the Art Deco Style designed by the celebrated Irish architectural firm of Robinson and Keefe. The Society strongly objects to the relocation of historic buildings and notes that it is at variance with international and national best conservation practice.

Again the Society supports the DoEHLG’s stance as outlined in their letter to Dublin City Council dated 30^th May, that ‘the demolition of a historic building behind a retained façade is not considered to be good conservation practice nor is the practice of moving a protected structure from its original location except in exceptional circumstances.’ 

In light of the above points the Irish Georgian Society respectfully asks An Bord Pleanála to overrule Dublin City Council’s grant of permission to Chartered Land Limited proposals for the redevelopment of the five and a half acre site.

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