Dublin’s Most Beautiful Building

Ok, there are obvious favourites that I love like the Gas Building, Dept of Enterprise, Sunlight, plus Georgian & Gandon stuff of course… I’ll skip all those ones.
My other picks are (in no particular order)… corner of Dame St & Grafton St (Fox’s), Restaurant in UCD, Post Office off Suffolk St (are they v. boring choices?).
Also a building I don’t know the name or purpose of on the North Quays, and in fact can’t remember which Quay, but next time I pass it I’ll take note & post again. Also on Westmoreland St. & Eden Quay there are a couple of gorgeous office fronts. The West. St. one is I think an insurers or solicitors, it’s on the West side just beyond Bank of Ireland, the Eden one is something to do with shipping I think. Ok I know that’s not much help, I’ll repost those vague ones!
Siobhán

Merrion Hall (Davenport Hotel) has a certain restrained nobility.

Carrolls building, Grand Parade. Especially at night.

Pelican House, Mespil road. The hidden delight is the rear of the building

Old Airport Terminal. Shamefully eclipsed and in decline.

Taste is a strange thing. One man’s thoughts could be hated by someone else. You will find that it is impossible to make a definitive statement that ”

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is Dublin’s most beautiful building”. Different things can detract from one building in favour of another – its surrounding environment, its neighbours, its use……

Frequently when asked, people will opt for the populist choice out of poor faith in their own judgement or architectural knowledge. Questions or polls like this do tend to put people on the spot, and when faced with seemingly more knowledgeable people, react accordingly. While saying that, I like EC’s choices especially the Carroll’s building, a fine canal side 1960’s office block and the similarly sites Irish Life [now Pelican House]. As EC points out, the joy here is to the rear containing a water feature sculpture and decorative mosaics on the structure.

The former Carroll’s building is a fine choice in my opinion, and definitely one of the buildings of the last century.

I believe outline planning permission for the demolition of Pelican House was granted to Johnny Ronan last year.

Keep an eye out for future planning notices!

Even though I am just an American tourist, I found the Post Office to be one of the most beautiful and epic builings I have ever seen.
I loved your city.

Even though I am just an American tourist, I found the Post Office to be one of the most beautiful and epic buildings I have ever seen.
I loved your city.

Is everyone forgetting Michael Scott’s Busaras! And a little more recently the National Photography Archive bldg. at Meeting House Square.

this will seem odd to many people, but I love the Central Bank on Dame St. It’s just got a great bulkiness to it, and doesn’t suffer like the other large Dublin buildings from “70s-ism”. More of the same please, DCC.

Agreed on Central Bank.
What works well is the new TCD building abutting the Dental Hospital, it is much
more subtle than the red brick monster opposite, as it doesn’t blatently mimic, but
reflects the Dental Hospital’s architecture in a more fitting way.
Another fav of mine is the Wood Quay final phase – there are some angles where it fits so well into the street line, it’s modern-ness comes a suprise.