REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL ART DECO BUILDING KNOWN AS ARCHERS GARAGE
I lived on the same street as the original building many years before it was illegally demolished and I preferred the original and in my opinion the replacement did not have the same look or feeling as the original.
Archer’s Garage is a building located at the corner of Sandwith [spelling is correct] Street and Fenian Street and unfortunately the current building is a replica of a Grade 1 listed 1940’s Art Deco garage previously on the same site that was illegally demolished in 1999 by a property developer who was subsequently forced to rebuild the garage to original specifications.
The original building was constructed in 1946 for Dick Archer, the first agent for Ford motorcars in Ireland. Designed by Arnold Francis Hendy, the building provided offices on a first floor level supported over an open ground-level forecourt that allowed for access of vehicles. The building was characterised by a striking circular tower with a flagpole and projecting fins for signage that acted as a corner fulcrum to the two streets.
Subsequent to its use as a garage, the building was home to the firm of CWL Electric, and appeared to have fallen into a state of disrepair by the late 1990’s. Over the bank holiday weekend of June 1999, contractors working for the property developer demolished the building, apparently in advance of plans for a new office and residential building on the site.
The incident caused a public outcry, and changes to the law under the 2000 Planning and Development Act that would make developers liable for fines of up to £1 million and prison sentences of up to two years for illegal demolitions.
Dublin Corporation and the developer subsequently came to an agreement that the developer would replace the building with an exact replica, at a cost to the developer running into millions of pounds, construction being overseen by the Corporation.
Responses to the new garage building when it was unveiled were mixed, with some seeing it as a “reasonably faithful copy of the original” while others expressed disappointment, noting the many small changes to detailing, and that the whole building is set back slightly further from the street line than previously.
In Ulysses Stephen went down Denzille Lane, the shortest way from Holles Street to Westland Row.
Fenian Street was formally called Denzille or Denzil Street, first appearing on maps around 1770. It was named after the son of John Holles, Denzille Holles. It was renamed Fenian Street, after the Fenian Brotherhood, who operated from the street in the 1850s.
On 12 June 1963, 2a, 3, and 4 Fenian Street tenement houses collapsed. This resulted in the deaths of two young girls, Linda Byrne (aged 8) and Marion Vardy (aged 9), who were passing the building when it collapsed. The collapse was blamed on the fast drying out of water saturated bricks after a period of heavy rain, and prompted demands for poorly maintained and dangerous tenement buildings to be demolished. In the 18 months after the collapse on Fenian Street, over 1200 Georgian houses in Dublin were demolished.
No. 25 Fenian Street is one of the oldest buildings in the area, predating the layout of nearby Merrion Square. Dating from the 17th century, the street would have been a coastal road at the time of construction, with the house facing the coastline and bay. The current building was first built in 1729 with a high pitched roof which was later amended to a more Palladian style. The building was subject to emergency remedial works in 2015.
Archer’s Garage is a notable building on the corner of Fenian Street and Sandwith Street.
Archer’s Garage is a rebuilt art deco style building on the corner of Sandwith street and Fenian Street in Dublin 2. Despite being a listed building it was illegally demolished in 1999 over the June bank holiday long weekend by property developer and hotelier Noel O’Callaghan. At the time of demolition it was the only surviving building on the largely derelict corner.
The demolition was controversial and as a result of legal action Dublin City Council forced the developers to build a facsimile of the building on the original site. Although originally scheduled to begin in September 1999, reconstruction commenced in 2001 but was then halted because of legal disputes concerning the garage and adjoining offices. It finally finished in 2004.
The demolition resulted in the maximum jail time for the demolition of listed buildings being raised from three to five years.The maximum fine of £1 million did not change.
Noel O’Callaghan forestalled prosecution by signing an agreement with Dublin Corporation to reinstate the building.
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