The Gasworks, Dublin.

[Morlan]

Couldn't find a dedicated thread for The Gasworks, Paul. If one exists, please merge.

Anywho, I visited the Gasworks Complex today. I've passed it on the DART hundreds of times but never actually visited the place.





View from the DART line





The complex itself looks very well with great attention to detail. But it's a depressing, lifeless place, like most of the docklands. Families don't live here, only young professionals.


The Grand Entrance:




The inner courtyard is very pleasant The tree is strung with white fairy lights at Christmas.











You must admit, it was a fantastic idea to convert this into a building. It's one of the best pieces of architecture in Dublin IMO.

[dodger]

Great building but can't see the appeal of living there. The balconies all face inside and none get any sun. Anybody mad enough to sit out can be watcehd from every other apartment.

As for the apartment blocks outside it, you can choose to live in the Dickens, the Clayburn or the Bligh. (give me a bucket!)

[Hiivaladan]

Fair enough, Bligh, at least, has an Irish connection..but the others? Is there no control over names of developments in Dublin by anybody?

[who_me]

I've only ever seen in in the distance from Lansdowne Rd. I never realised how big it is. I love it!

As for lack of families.. lack of quality outdoor space... just like pretty much every other apartment building in Ireland then!

[phil]

Just to clarify, there is actually a few families living in the Gasworks, but as you say, it is mainly young professionals. I think the Irish Times did a piece on it about a year ago or so. I will see if I can find it. What I find most interesting about it is that the apartments in the old Gasometer all seem unoccupied, whilst the rest of the blocks seem to to be almost 90% full. Anyone have any ideas as to why? Has it turned out that whilst a good idea in principle to keep the structure, the apartments themselves don't work given the constraints of the original structure? I am just speculating here, anyone know what the situation actually is? ie, is it that they simply aren't finished? I remember that it was definitely being worked on after the others were finished, but that was well over a year ago now.

[Morlan]

Phil, the place was empty when I went in. I was there for half an hour and nodoby came into the courtyard, except for one guy who walked in and said "hmmm" and walked out again!

There was a new fire door and several sheets of double glazing sitting outside the entrance, so maybe they're still working on it.

[phil]

Yeah, sounds like that must be the case. Strange none-the-less, isn't it?

Incidently, nice photos as always. do you mind me asking what type of camera you use?

[ake]

Cool pictures morlan

[Urban_Form]

It's an opportunity for the city that was wasted in my opinion. To have this turned into nothing more than an apartment complex is both money-grabbing and unimaginative. It should have been a public building of some sort.

[GrahamH]

Great stuff Morlan - polarising mania

I was always under the impression that the courtyard was glazed over, so these pics are something of a revelation. Yes I can't see the balconies being overly desirable for use - even the acoustics would be off-putting I imagine. The upper ones would be nicer though with direct sunlight.

Interesting to see how the whole complex is built too, with thin concrete piers the depth of each apartment aligning with the columns of the outside structure. From the views above, it seems the apartments aren't even furnished, so it mustn't be finished yet.

[Morlan]

Incidently, nice photos as always. do you mind me asking what type of camera you use?

Thanks Phil.

This is what I used for these shots:
- Canon 400D
- Sigma 10-20mm Wide-angle
- Circular polarising filter

The camera body isn't important really - It's the glass and filters that make a good photo. The camera body is about €600, and the glass/filters amounted to €800. You won't be disappointed with the Sigma lens.

A circular polarising filter is essential for architectural photography as it cancels out any glare or reflection on glass/shiny surfaces.

Cool pictures morlan

Thanks ake!

From the views above, it seems the apartments aren't even furnished, so it mustn't be finished yet.

Certainly seemed that way, Graham. Absolutely no sign of life, In fact, the whole Gasworks complex is windswept and lifeless.

[newgrange]

Is there a similar project anywhere else? UK maybe?
Are there definitely no health problems from toxic 'stuff' from when the gas was there?

[lunasa]

There's something similar in Vienna from about six years ago, I remember seeing it here in Italy on TV. I'll go check,

[lunasa]

Yup, here's the link:


http://www.gasometer.org/en/

Enjoy.

[phil]

This is what I used for these shots:
- Canon 400D
- Sigma 10-20mm Wide-angle
- Circular polarising filter

Thanks for that Morlan.

[newgrange]

Yup, here's the link:


http://www.gasometer.org/en/

Enjoy.

They did a beautiful job on the ones in Vienna I think.
I like the mixture of public and private spaces. I especially like the gardens.

I may take a weekend trip to Vienna to go see them.

[PTB]

MVRDV did something similar in Copenhagen, except they built their apartments around two old grain silos

http://www.archined.nl/oem/reportages/mvrdvSilo/siloMVRDV-eng.html

http://www.mvrdv.nl/_v2/projects/129_frosilos/index.html

[manifesta]

Are there definitely no health problems from toxic 'stuff' from when the gas was there?

Depends on who you ask.

The decontamination cost of this land was so great that it nearly halved the land's value when Bord Gais sold it over to the DDDA back in '98. Between the site of the Alliance gasometer (the metal red frame converted over into apartments) and the former gasholder site on Sir John Rogerson's Quay, you had any number of these tasties fortifying the soil: arsenic, cyanides, sulpur, pheonols, tars, aromatic hydrocarbons, and mineral oils. Yum! An Bord Pleanala rejected the original Zoe Development plan to build on the Barrow St site until they came up with a thorough environmental impact statement that would ensure the decontamination would be carried out properly. Turns out that the first 'thorough decontamination' of a separate gasworks site involved them digging out to a depth of 8 feet, while toxins were floating around at about 20 feet below. As far as I know, they kept their word on this one.

I love what they've done with the apartments in the gasworks frame. I'd live there in a heartbeat. As long as they don't gate it, rig it with attack dogs, or close off the courtyard, I think it's great that it exists as a very approachable structure. It's not public space in the truest sense of the word, but a better public space than one might imagine.

If you want wasted opportunity, just look at Stack A. Or has something wonderful and innovative happened there while I was busy breathing in. . . mmm. . . aromatic hydrocarbons?

[jdivision]

manifesta, I thought the DDDA had handled the decontamination. Seems like I'm wrong there.

[manifesta]

I don't know who actually shoveled the muck, but the onus was on Zoe to provide proof that the site would be 'remediated' properly after the Green Party and ABP raised concerns about the contaminated soil. The consultant engineers on the proposal were Ove Arup and Partners, at least as late as 2000. Again, who did the dirty work beyond that, I can't be certain.

[PoxyShamrock]

Wow. I think the gasworks site is fantastic! It's perhaps one of the best examples of urban redevelopment I've ever seen. The Courtyard looks absolutely Superb. The contractor/architect behind this development should be assigned to more developments all over the country. Great Stuff!

[Devin]

Architects were O'Mahony Pike. They're not messers.

[lostexpectation]

so apparently there was somebody on liveline today giving out about the fact that he bought an apartment here but now the empty ones are being let out to DIT students for 150 a week...

[Rory W]

so apparently there was somebody on liveline today giving out about the fact that he bought an apartment here but now the empty ones are being let out to DIT students for 150 a week...

Shocking - vacant apartments in Dublin being rented out - how bizarre

Did the caller just have a problem with students or something

[igy]

150 a week each for 2 people sharing a twin room, with 2 rooms in each apartment.

over on thepropertypin they reckon it's so he can write it off as a section 23 job.