Reality of Dun Laoghaire Library

Bits_n_Bobs

I got my first eye-full of the eye-sore that is the library last week.

Despite seeing and hearing plentiful tales of woe about the building it's fair to say I was gobsmacked by the sheer brutalism of the actual edifice.

It's gross. Not a single redeeming feature. It's actually intimidating to look at it.

If Stalin had built this as a prison designed by the KGB and placed in the most remote area of Siberia human rights activists would of been up in arms about a state torturing it's own citizens.

The only possible aesthetic solution to this is

- if DLRCC provide citizens with scaffolding and paint so we can gentrify this monstrosity by means of graffiti.

- I would also call for a methodone clinic to be placed at the reception where the good councillors and managers of the council can stay in touch with the reality of their town on a daily basis.

- an actual public toilet that is open 24/7 to give the place that 'continental feel'
where councils provide actual public services

josip

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

...

- I would also call for a methodone clinic to be placed at the reception where the good councillors and managers of the council can stay in touch with the reality of their town on a daily basis.

...

Get in touch with Dun Laoghaoire Business Association so.

"Pat Downey, represented the DLBA throughout the SARA project which has seen an analysis of ASBO in the town due to homelessness , addiction , substance abuse, and the problems of the location of a Methadone Clinic in our town centre now that it at an end the association will have to consider its position going forward, the feeling is that the clinic on Patrick St is in a most unsuitable location given that the town is becoming a Marine Leisure Tourist Destination and the jobs and business that can be delivered to the town if it is considered to be a safe place to shop and work"

awec

Is this the new beige building on the sea front there?

Saw it on Sunday for the first time - absolutely hideous. Looks totally out of place.

Fratton Fred

awec wrote: »

Is this the new beige building on the sea front there?

Saw it on Sunday for the first time - absolutely hideous. Looks totally out of place.

That's the one.

Tabnabs

I can't wait for it to open. DL is crying out for a new library and I'll enjoy every moment of DLRCoCo's folly (and the locals voters who elected these councillors and ultimately paid for the building).

Dramatik

They never seem to get it right, do they? The shopping centre, that big rusty sculpture that was on the pavillion for a bit and now the library. You'd think they'd have learned their lesson by now.

schemingbohemia

I actually like it! I've only seen it from the Aircoach as it was pulling into the Marine Hotel but I though it looked well.

Larbre34

schemingbohemia wrote: »

I actually like it! I've only seen it from the Aircoach as it was pulling into the Marine Hotel but I though it looked well.

I agree, but the eastern side viewed from the coast road looks like this.

ted1

OH Dear God...

Larbre34

Indeed.

Bits_n_Bobs

Can anyone tell me if the chimney things are designed to provide gratuitous and additional eye-pain or if there is some sort of functionality behind them? I have a vision of the local County Coucillors being strung up above them and then some huge furnace turned on with gouts of massive flames shooting up and roasting the councillors?

RainyDay

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if the chimney things are designed to provide gratuitous and additional eye-pain or if there is some sort of functionality behind them? I have a vision of the local County Coucillors being strung up above them and then some huge furnace turned on with gouts of massive flames shooting up and roasting the councillors?

They are designed for roasting of the whingers and moaners who complain about everything.

When you're out on the pier and you look back at the town, the new library fits quite nicely in with the other buildings, albeit with a distinctly modern feel.

Bits_n_Bobs

RainyDay wrote: »

When you're out on the pier and you look back at the town, the new library fits quite nicely in with the other buildings, albeit with a distinctly modern feel.

I'm pretty sure it looks really good from Hollyhead.

RainyDay

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it looks really good from Hollyhead.

Just like yourself, then?

Bits_n_Bobs

RainyDay wrote: »

Just like yourself, then?

Ouch. That hurt my feelings...I might cry for a few minutes...but rest assured, once I pull myself together I will gather my intellectual resources and muster an equally devastating rebuttal.

josip

RainyDay wrote: »

They are designed for roasting of the whingers and moaners who complain about everything.

When you're out on the pier and you look back at the town, the new library fits quite nicely in with the other buildings, albeit with a distinctly modern feel.

Most people who live and work around Dun Laoghaire do so on land rather than out at the battery.

RainyDay

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

once I pull myself together I will gather my intellectual resources

Sorry, but I've only a couple of weeks to spare.

ted1

RainyDay wrote: »

They are designed for roasting of the whingers and moaners who complain about everything.

When you're out on the pier and you look back at the town, the new library fits quite nicely in with the other buildings, albeit with a distinctly modern feel.

Whole your at olevitti or down further your view has being seriously restricted and a barrier has being put between you and the commercial part if dun laoighre.

Bits_n_Bobs

RainyDay wrote: »

Sorry, but I've only a couple of weeks to spare.

Another devastating personal attack. My ego is taking quite the battering. I can tell you're a master of internet discourse! It's a pleasure to personally witness such skillz...

carpejugulum

I like it.

RainyDay

ted1 wrote: »

Whole your at olevitti or down further your view has being seriously restricted and a barrier has being put between you and the commercial part if dun laoighre.

I've no idea what this means.

josip

RainyDay wrote: »

I've no idea what this means.

Oliveto is a restauarant at the Kingston Hotel overlooking the pier.
From that part of town it'd be like sitting in a cubicle in large office.
You know there's stuff going on on the other side of the partition, but all you can see is the divider.

ted1

RainyDay wrote: »

I've no idea what this means.

It means that the library sits to far forward and splits dun laoighre in two. When people are at the peoples park side of the library they can't see past the library and hence its a barrier that discourages them from venturing to the shops in dun laoighre and will hence kill the town more. It'll even stop people from going up to the pavilion

Fratton Fred

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's like a carbunkle on the face of a much loved friend, but it's certainly a big blot on the landscape.

schemingbohemia

ted1 wrote: »

It means that the library sits to far forward and splits dun laoighre in two. When people are at the peoples park side of the library they can't see past the library and hence its a barrier that discourages them from venturing to the shops in dun laoighre and will hence kill the town more. It'll even stop people from going up to the pavilion

And you're basing this on what? It's a bit flat-earther isn't it? Here be dragons and all that.

Tabnabs

ted1 wrote: »

It means that the library sits to far forward and splits dun laoighre in two. When people are at the peoples park side of the library they can't see past the library and hence its a barrier that discourages them from venturing to the shops in dun laoighre and will hence kill the town more. It'll even stop people from going up to the pavilion

TBF, when you're in the People's Park, your view is blocked by the high rise Georgian era housing. Once you get past the Library, the high rise Pavillion now blocks your view, turn to your left and the high rise hotel and high rise apartment blocks also block your view. Can you see a theme emerging?

On the subject of the "flower pots" on the roof, to give an idea of scale, they are about twice the height of a person. IMHO they were very much buried on original artistic representations.

Larbre34

You can interpret it of course, but fundamentally it is bad design. Flow and a sense of place are the two most important abstracts in designs for in-fill sites, especially for landmark public buildings, unless of course you're in Manhattan or Hong Kong. The library just jars and presents a massive big barrier, both physical and perceived.

I cant understand how a lower rise option with a horseshoe or J-shape footprint with some curves werent considered. They could still have delivered all the floor space of what was built.

dublinman1990

When I had a look at the middle of the building from two weekends ago, it actually looks very neat as it has a narrow shape for it's width. It wasn't too imposing on the view from the Royal Marine Hotel being behind it.

However, it does look very wide from it's length. If the building's width was much shorter, it wouldn't look realistic for the library and the other facilities to move in there as the space for it would be too small to make it fit.

I would find it hard to believe from the size of the building that the offices from the main council building would be rumored to move into the new library as it looks very small to use for civil servants to use on a daily basis. Some of the departments in the main building on Marine Road just could not move in there as their departments are already too big for all their staff to use every day. The housing department in DLRCOCO alone stretches for two floors in the main building. If that department moved into the library building today, half of the space would fill up immediately which means the other half of that space or even a fraction above or below it would not move into it.

I would see the library as a good build now after seeing it's eventual result.

RainyDay

josip wrote: »

Oliveto is a restauarant at the Kingston Hotel overlooking the pier.
From that part of town it'd be like sitting in a cubicle in large office.
You know there's stuff going on on the other side of the partition, but all you can see is the divider.

Thanks for trying.

ted1 wrote: »

It means that the library sits to far forward and splits dun laoighre in two. When people are at the peoples park side of the library they can't see past the library and hence its a barrier that discourages them from venturing to the shops in dun laoighre and will hence kill the town more. It'll even stop people from going up to the pavilion

OK, now I get it. You seem to be ignoring the fact that people will actually be coming from ALL directions TO the library building. It is a destination in itself.

Bits_n_Bobs

RainyDay wrote: »

OK, now I get it. You seem to be ignoring the fact that people will actually be coming from ALL directions TO the library building. It is a destination in itself.

So what? It's still a butt ugly hideous monstrosity.

Is there one single element of the design that you can defend as opposed to making snarky comments about other peoples opinions of it?

Tabnabs

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

So what? It's still a butt ugly hideous monstrosity.

Is there one single element of the design that you can defend as opposed to making snarky comments about other peoples opinions of it?

The view. Standing on the top floor looking out at an uninterrupted view of Dublin Bay in all its sunny glory. :cool:

RainyDay

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

Is there one single element of the design that you can defend as opposed to making snarky comments about other peoples opinions of it?

Like I said above "When you're out on the pier and you look back at the town, the new library fits quite nicely in with the other buildings, albeit with a distinctly modern feel."

uch

I Have to say, I'm impressed with it, can't wait to see the inside

awec

Was there a need for it to be so big?

Larbre34

awec wrote: »

Was there a need for it to be so big?

Not so tall, yes. They could have achieved the same or more floor space with a lower design with a larger footprint. The aspiration for a landmark building went too far.

Tabnabs

It's as if an outgoing county manager wanted to leave a legacy behind...

ted1

awec wrote: »

Was there a need for it to be so big?

The council staff will appreciate the large car park

ted1

schemingbohemia wrote: »

And you're basing this on what? It's a bit flat-earther isn't it? Here be dragons and all that.

What are you on about ?

RainyDay

ted1 wrote: »

The council staff will appreciate the large car park

You're right, they will appreciate that library customers will be able to come and use the car park, while Council staff continue to use their existing car park.

Do you really need to grasp at rumours like this to criticise it?

awec

Larbre34 wrote: »

Not so tall, yes. They could have achieved the same or more floor space with a lower design with a larger footprint. The aspiration for a landmark building went too far.

Yea sorry, when I meant big I meant tall.

From one side it almost looks like a huge factory.

If you took off the chimneys (or whatever those things are) then I think the building would look good if it was in the right setting. Unfortunately a small seaside town isn't really the right setting.

jcon1913

RainyDay wrote: »

You're right, they will appreciate that library customers will be able to come and use the car park, while Council staff continue to use their existing car park.

Do you really need to grasp at rumours like this to criticise it?

My friend you are defending the undefensible. It's a large monstrosity of a building totally out of character with everything around it in terms of scale, height, etc etc.

It blocks many peoples views and is nothing but a blot on the landscape. .

The level of cynicism on here is nothing compared to what ordinary people would say to your face. So yes, parking for the council staff, etc etc is how the ''Library'' is perceived. Do you really think people believe that a library
1. will take up all the space in this building?
2.had to be built on the some of the most prime real estate in the town?

By the way I am not employed by the council, I have never even looked at the plans for the 'Library'. I have been in the County council building a few times on business.

RainyDay

jcon1913 wrote: »

So yes, parking for the council staff, etc etc is how the ''Library'' is perceived. Do you really think people believe that a library
1. will take up all the space in this building?
[...]
By the way I am not employed by the council, I have never even looked at the plans for the 'Library'. I have been in the County council building a few times on business.

Here's a mad idea. Have a look at the plans before you criticise.

For the record, I'm not employed by the Council. I have been in the County council building a few times on business. I am a customer of DLR Libraries, though I've only been in the Dun Laoghaire branch once.

Tabnabs

RainyDay wrote: »

You're right, they will appreciate that library customers will be able to come and use the car park, while Council staff continue to use their existing car park.

Do you really need to grasp at rumours like this to criticise it?

Can you confirm that public parking will be available? Where will the parking for the new staff offices be located exactly?

Tabnabs

jcon1913 wrote: »

My friend you are defending the undefensible. It's a large monstrosity of a building totally out of character with everything around it in terms of scale, height, etc etc.

It blocks many peoples views and is nothing but a blot on the landscape. .

scale and height eh?



TBF, it fits right in with the other high rise private properties all around it.

RainyDay

Tabnabs wrote: »

Can you confirm that public parking will be available? Where will the parking for the new staff offices be located exactly?

Here's a mad idea. Have a look at the plans before you criticise.

Tabnabs

RainyDay wrote: »

Here's a mad idea. Have a look at the plans before you criticise.

I have, and I'll take that as a no...

RainyDay

Tabnabs wrote: »

I have

Then you know as much about it as I so, so I've no idea why you're asking me for details.

Tabnabs

RainyDay wrote: »

Then you know as much about it as I so, so I've no idea why you're asking me for details.

So your post about parking is pure speculation on your part? At least that's clear.

Larbre34

Tabnabs wrote: »

scale and height eh?



TBF, it fits right in with the other high rise private properties all around it.

It appears even more fitting from orbit.

jcon1913

Tabnabs wrote: »

scale and height eh?



TBF, it fits right in with the other high rise private properties all around it.

Good one, now take a photo from Dun Laoghaiore Baths or from the National Yacht Club.

By the way high rise private properties would not get that planning permission - and nothing you say will make me believe that it would get permission in the hands of an ordinary person, before you waste your time trying to convince me otherwise.

From the extremities of the pier where your photo is taken from it fits right in.

But then Killiney ''hill'' looks like a small pile of rubble. From the angle you have taken your photo from.

jcon1913

RainyDay wrote: »

Here's a mad idea. Have a look at the plans before you criticise.

For the record, I'm not employed by the Council. I have been in the County council building a few times on business. I am a customer of DLR Libraries, though I've only been in the Dun Laoghaire branch once.

I don't need to look at plans to know that this building is ugly, looks totally out of place, should have been built somewhere else, blocks light, is a monument to stupidity, looks way too big to house every library in the DunLaoghaire area. But that's just my opinion.

There was no need for the council to construct such a tall building in such a prominent site. Period.