URBAN EXPRESSION

All Types And Styles Of Urban Expression

Public Transport

GEORGE’S LANE IN SMITHFIELD

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DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 50 GEORGE’S LANE IN SMITHFIELD

Not much to be said about George’s Lane other than it is Smithfield and is close to Blackhall Place. There are a number of cafes and restaurants nearby and of course there is a Bublinbikes Docking Station.

I don’t normally flash but a project that was scheduled for today was cancelled and I ended up with a flash unit attached to my Sony A7RIV so I decided to wander around the town experimenting with fill flash and i got some unusual results. i also found it impossible to control White Balance.

DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 98

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DUBLINBIKES DOCKING STATION 98 SOUTH FREDERICK STREET

South Frederick Street is a quiet thoroughfare running between Molesworth Street and Nassau Street in the south city centre. Laid out in the 1730s as a fashionable enclave of residential houses, pre-empting the development of Leinster House in 1745, South Frederick Street was utterly transformed during the 20th century with a series of house demolitions. While less than half of the original buildings now survive, the street manages to retain a semblance of its original self thanks, in part, to the retention and refurbishment of two houses by Dublin Civic Trust.

Sited in the middle of the street is Number 10, a handsome four-storey over basement house constructed in the early 1750s. Its defining architectural feature is its striking array of flush-framed windows with exposed sash boxes – one of the very few sets remaining on a domestic house in Dublin.

Number 10 was restored by Dublin Civic Trust in the mid-1990s as its second building conservation project, following the successful consolidation and refurbishment of Number 11 next door. Returned to residential use upon completion, both houses still remain as private family homes, demonstrating the enduring value of these buildings as city residences.

LUAS TRAM STOP DUNDRUM

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LUAS TRAM STOP DUNDRUM

The Luas Green Line passes through Dundrum, over the large cable-stayed William Dargan Bridge, at Taney Cross. It is the largest engineering structure on the line.

William Dargan (28 February 1799 – 7 February 1867) may well have been the most important Irish engineer of the 19th century and certainly he was the most important figure in railway construction. Dargan designed and built Ireland’s first railway line from Dublin to Dún Laoghaire in 1833. In total he constructed over 1,300 km (800 miles) of railway to important urban centres of Ireland. He was a member of the Royal Dublin Society and also helped establish the National Gallery of Ireland. He was also responsible for the Great Dublin Exhibition held at Leinster lawn in 1853. His achievements were honoured in 1995, when the Dargan Railway Bridge in Belfast was opened, and again in 2004 when the Dargan Bridge, Dublin a new cable stayed bridge for Dublin’s Light Railway Luas were both named after him.

TRAM STOP – RANELAGH

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LUAS TRAM STOP – RANELAGH

The stretch of road joining Sandford Road (which begins at the corner of Anna Villa) to Ranelagh Road (which begins at the railway bridge) is known as Ranelagh or Ranelagh Village. The whole surrounding area is also popularly known as Ranelagh, stretching from Charlemont Bridge on the Grand Canal at the northern end of Ranelagh Road down to the junction with Milltown Road at the southern end of Sandford Road, and from Leeson Street to the East towards Rathmines to the West.

A NEW HAMPTON BY HILTON TO OPEN NEXT MONTH

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A NEW HAMPTON BY HILTON TO OPEN NEXT MONTH – WHERE THE OLD MOTOR TAX OFFICE WAS LOCATED

Hilton Hotels have announced that they will be opening their latest Hampton Hotel in February 2020. The development will include a 249-bedroom hotel located at River House, Chancery Street .

My photographs were taken at the Luas Tram Stop on Chancery Street and my understanding is that there will be a new entrance here to the redeveloped Dublin City Fruit And Vegetable Wholesale Market via what was the Fish Market [has been demolished and is now a car park].

Some of the ugliest buildings in Dublin were owned or occupied by the Government and one really bad examples was the six-storey River House at Chancery Street which was vacant since the motor taxation service relocated. In 1987, the original building was the subject of an unusual legal dispute. Frank McDonald in his book ‘The Destruction of Dublin’ attributed the design of the building to John Thompson and Partners but they sued for damages on the grounds they had nothing to do with the design of River House.

The site was sold for €8 million in 2017. At the time it was indicated that the plan was to build a 249 room hotel but recently I read in a local newspaper that it would be an office complex to service the needs of legal firms moving to Dublin because of Brexit it would appear that their sources were not good.

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