URBAN PHOTOGRAPHS

Urban Expression And Depression By Infomatique

North Wall

NORTH WALL QUAY – DUBLIN DOCKLANDS

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NORTH WALL QUAY – DUBLIN DOCKLANDS

In the late 1960s I worked for the B+I shipping company and was based on the North Wall Quay and back then it was not a pleasant location but things have greatly changed since then but many of the original workers became unemployed during the following decades.

North Wall is an area east of the inner north side of Dublin, along the River Liffey. It contains the entire north side of Dublin Docklands and includes the International Financial Services Centre, Spencer Dock, and further east the main part of Dublin Port.

The area is dominated by a combination of older housing, dockland activities and new development through the Docklands Strategic Development Zone Planning Scheme, including extensive construction of new retail, residential and office spaces.

73 NORTH WALL QUAY – THE HEYSHAM

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73 NORTH WALL QUAY – THE HEYSHAM

Richford Motors were based at 73 North Wall Quay and I have some photographs dating from May 2012.

Keeping the facade of old buildings appears to have become a popular form of preserving the past but I finding it more than disappointing. However, in this instance, I cannot really complain as it is a case of history being repeated. The previous building was built for the Dublin & Glasgow Steam Packet Company and it was essentially a façade retention with a modern building behind.

A local told me that the Heysham was a new hotel and they were wrong but to be fair there is a new hotel nearby.

Here is a description that I found online: “The Heysham represents a stunning fusion of contemporary and Victorian Architecture set in the heart of Dublin’s vibrant North Docklands. The contemporary glazed structure extends seven floors above the existing two storey, red brick warehouse to provide a truly unique office setting. The cutting edge design provides an exceptional waterfront office HQ over nine light-filled floors.”

BICYCLE RACE

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I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART ON THE NORTH WALL

“Bicycle Race” is a single by the British rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album Jazz and written by Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song “Fat Bottomed Girls”. The song is notable for its video featuring a bicycle race with nude women at Wimbledon Stadium, which was controversial at the time, with the video being edited or even banned in several countries.

The song was written by Freddie Mercury and was inspired by watching the 18th stage of the 1978 Tour de France passing Montreux, where the band were recording Jazz in the Mountain Studios.

It starts with a chorus unaccompanied by instruments. The chorus is followed by two verses connected with a bridge, both followed by a chorus. Around the middle of the song is a solo played with numerous bicycle bells. The song has an unusual chord progression with numerous modulations, a change of metre (from 4 4 to 3 4) in the bridge, and multi-tracked vocal and guitar harmonies.

The lyrics are topical for the time and contain social, political, and pop culture references, such as religion, Vietnam War, Watergate, cocaine, fictional characters (Peter Pan, Frankenstein and Superman), actor John Wayne, and the films Jaws and Star Wars.

NORTH WALL QUAY

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NORTH WALL QUAY AS SEEN FROM SIR JOHN ROGERSON’S QUAY

Every time I visit the skyline has changed.

North Wall is an area east of the inner north side of Dublin, along the River Liffey. It contains the entire north side of Dublin Docklands and includes the International Financial Services Centre, Spencer Dock, and further east the main part of Dublin Port.

The area is dominated by a combination of older housing, dockland activities and new development through the Docklands Strategic Development Zone Planning Scheme, including extensive construction of new retail, residential and office spaces.

Transport in the area includes the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (Docklands railway station on Sheriff Street), the LUAS (red line stations George’s Dock, Mayor Square, Spencer Dock, and The Point, and 8 dublinbikes stations (at Custom House Quay, City Quay, Excise Walk, Lime Street, Guild Street, Convention Centre, New Central Bank, and The Point).

CENTRAL BANK

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THE CENTRAL BANK BEFORE THE STAFF MOVED IN

I photographed this building in February 2017 not long before it became operational

More than 1,400 people work at the eight-floor North Wall Quay building and approximately 300 staff at Spencer Dock.

The Central Bank was based in the Dame Street Tower from 1979 until 2017. They also had offices in the nearby Commercial Buildings, on College Green and in Iveagh Court, near Harcourt Street.

When the Central Bank needed more accommodation, it examined various options including investment in their existing city centre properties. It was finally decided the most cost effective option was to locate staff to the Dockland district.

The Central Bank bought a partially constructed building at North Wall Quay, for €7 million in 2012. Spencer Dock was an office block building the Central Bank had rented since 2008. In November 2015 the Central Bank purchased this building for €104 million. All staff in the existing city centre locations moved to the Dockland Campus in spring 2017.

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