1971 – Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Burlington Road, Dublin
With a debt to Kahn’s theory of serviced spaces and services, the Institute for Advanced Studies has a solid spine containing stairs,
Sam Stephenson was one of Ireland’s most controversial architects. He studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology and in England, France and Switzerland. His most famous (or infamous) buildings include the Central Bank of Ireland (1975), Dublin Corporation Offices at Wood Quay (Phase I 1976) and the ESB Headquarters in Fitzwilliam Street (1975). All of these buildings attracted controversy. The Central Bank of Ireland, although structurally a ground breaking design was criticised for its height in the midst of the old city and its blatant disregard for the planning authorities. The buildings at Wood Quay were never completed as designed due to the public outcry about the viking city found buried on the site and Dublin Corporation’s loss of nerve. The site was later completed with a building designed by Ronnie Tallon of Scott Tallon Walker. The ESB Headquarters entailed the destruction of the longest complete Georgian streetscape in Europe with 11 complete house being demolished creating a huge break in the flow of Fitzwilliam Street / Square and Merrion Square. He received the RIAI Gold Medal in 1985.
With a debt to Kahn’s theory of serviced spaces and services, the Institute for Advanced Studies has a solid spine containing stairs,
The site at Wood Quay had been earmarked as a site for the headquarters of Dublin Corporation since the 1950s.
Another one of Sam Stephenson’s buildings that was to attract a lot of criticism both for its height and original roofline (in contravention of the Planning Permission) and for its brash appearance in Temple Bar.
This development was the final part of a controversial project lasting over twenty years. The site at Wood Quay had been earmarked as a site for the headquarters of Dublin Corporation since the 1950s.
Map is being rolled out, not all buildings are mapped yet - shows location of buildings on this page.