Celtic tiger style architecture

Ubbquittious · 20-03-2018 02:45PM #1

I wonder what people in 100 years will think of Celtic tiger architecture if any of it is still around by then

What kind of traits would you associate with the building style of the time?

To me it would have to include

*An estate of matte piss coloured houses knitted onto a traditional village

*A traditional stone cottage or single storey terraced house with a massive extension out the back built at a 90 degree angle to it, the roof of which sticks out far above that of the original building

*An unpainted 5-bedroom house unit with three dormer windows surrounded by a blob of tarmac, with a tarmac driveway and no trees except for the odd sad looking cordylines. Maybe there would be some shrubs surrounded by stone chippings with a layer of plastic beneath for easy maintainence.

*Big ugly white panel at the side of every house for the electricity meter.

*A bathroom with a massive bath that looks like it was teleported in from a posh New York hotel if it wasn't for all the leaks and the fact that the 150L water cylinder hasn't a hope in hell of ever filling the bath.

*Timber frame, slapped up in half the time, double the profit!

*Something something boulevard and something drive or parkway in the backarse of Co. Cavan

*A bathroom squashed into a bit of dead space upstairs not quite big enough for a bedroom. Complete with a little sh1tty plastic electric fan heater and equally sh1tty extractor fan.

*Garage filled with cardboard boxes for the TV and other plastic rubbish. A black Navara crewcab with the notorious "snap in half" design flaw stands proudly outside.

*A room built specifically from the ground up to be centred around the TV.

*Gas barbecue outside, used once, now a pile of rust.

Sleepy · 20-03-2018 03:38PM

The myriad of 300sqm McMansions complete with obligatory stand-alone "garage" (comprising of a never played on pool table and home bar) built all over the boreens of Ireland will stand testament to the complete lack of Celtic Tiger planning.

20-03-2018 03:45PM

You forgot neglected decking with rats living underneath that consumes a full two thirds of your outdoor space and is slowly rotting because you have neither the time nor the energy to maintain it, and a hot tub that was used every evening for three weeks non-stop, then forgotten about for ten years while the algae under the tarp incubates new forms of life with greater intelligence than the tubs owner.

Dormer windows, as many as possible, with not so much as a nod to symmetry.

Shiny tile everywhere interspersed with 'accent' tiles that you're stuck with for life because removing them is more hassle than it's worth and besides you imported them from a master ceramics artisan worker in Sicily who made them in a pressure cooker filled with volcanic water and etched them by hand with Micaelangelos nail clippers.

Faux Victorian lamposts pockmarking a tarmac'd driveway of eighteen feet behind black wrought-iron gates with gold tips bearing the nameplate "Balmoral" or "Misty Morning" or some such.

Same everywhere there's a boom.

garbo speaks · 20-03-2018 04:00PM

Living room curtains made from human skin.

whisky_galore · 20-03-2018 04:07PM

We have no eye for good design, we just excel at cheap (and cheap looking...but costing a bomb), the butt-ugly and kitsch.

Mansions the size of small hotels with Mammy, Daddy and 2 kids rattling around inside.

Permabear · 20-03-2018 04:29PM

This post has been deleted.

SEPT 23 1989 · 20-03-2018 04:30PM

the buildings will not be standing in 100 years time

mloc123 · 20-03-2018 04:32PM

*Big ugly white panel at the side of every house for the electricity meter.

Is that not every house?

whisky_galore · 20-03-2018 04:33PM

Incomplete houses with black plastic and 'Elf n Safety' site signs flapping in the wind...slowing growing algae and eventually returning to nature. Roof lead and copper piping pilfered.

Ubbquittious · 20-03-2018 04:35PM

mloc123 wrote: »

*Big ugly white panel at the side of every house for the electricity meter.

Is that not every house?

Plenty of houses that don't have it, they really started appearing en masse during the tiger. Usually along with matching white plastic ugly square downpipes and the chaypest white PVC window available

silverharp · 20-03-2018 04:37PM

all the stupid stainless steel used on office buildings and public spaces around town, guaranteed to look cr'p within 10 years and any lights for effect well broken or vandalised

mloc123 · 20-03-2018 04:39PM

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Plenty of houses that don't have it, they really started appearing en masse during the tiger. Usually along with matching white plastic ugly square downpipes and the chaypest white PVC window available

What did houses have before white PVC esb boxes...? Same goes for gutters, your options are generally white or black PVC and have been for 30-40yrs now. Before that iron was used. Neither of these are a Celtic tiger thing.

edit: our previous house was built in 1978 and had a white PVC esb box.

20-03-2018 04:46PM

mloc123 wrote: »

What did houses have before white PVC esb boxes...? Same goes for gutters, your options are generally white or black PVC and have been for 30-40yrs now. Before that iron was used. Neither of these are a Celtic tiger thing.

edit: our previous house was built in 1978 and had a white PVC esb box.

The meter was internal and in my experience stuck up in the front hall.

Mint Sauce · 20-03-2018 04:46PM

mloc123 wrote: »

What did houses have before white PVC esb boxes...? Same goes for gutters, your options are generally white or black PVC and have been for 30-40yrs now. Before that iron was used. Neither of these are a Celtic tiger thing.

edit: our previous house was built in 1978 and had a white PVC esb box.

I'd say any house built 80s or later would have the ESB outside, before that the metre would probably be inside.

That's my experience of any house I have lived in here anyway.

Agree with the guttering though, I don't know any house without uPVC guttering, either in white, or brown to match the uPVC frames.

LirW · 20-03-2018 04:47PM

Damask wallpaper and mirrored furniture.
I'm surprised some people still buy these.

Buildings covered and eaten by red algae because they were abandoned after builder's finish and somehow still manage to stand, even the windows being green from algae.

Bungalows that could have been build anywhere between 1970 and 2009 and still have the flimsy "For Sale" sign out because the owner's grandkids are still in negative equity.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5 · 20-03-2018 04:48PM

A lot of retail and commercial architecture and interior design that seemed to be almost entirely inspired by the big brother house

Vladimir Poontang · 20-03-2018 04:48PM

They'll be falling down in 20 years time. Build quality is shocking.

silverharp · 20-03-2018 04:49PM

mloc123 wrote: »

What did houses have before white PVC esb boxes...? Same goes for gutters, your options are generally white or black PVC and have been for 30-40yrs now. Before that iron was used. Neither of these are a Celtic tiger thing.

edit: our previous house was built in 1978 and had a white PVC esb box.

when my continental inlaws came over the first time to see our house they thought it was a rain collection grey water system, how I lolled

Ubbquittious · 20-03-2018 04:50PM

mloc123 wrote: »

What did houses have before white PVC esb boxes...? Same goes for gutters, your options are generally white or black PVC and have been for 30-40yrs now. Before that iron was used. Neither of these are a Celtic tiger thing.

edit: our previous house was built in 1978 and had a white PVC esb box.

The meter would be just inside the house. Before that again they either did without or they had a 1-cylinder lister diesel engine tied to an alternator with a leather belt in a wooden frame

20-03-2018 04:50PM

LirW wrote: »

Buildings covered and eaten by red algae because they were abandoned after builder's finish and somehow still manage to stand

I'm glad someone mentioned that. What's the craic with that? It seems to just devour some houses? I'm sure it's around decades but ive only seen it myself in the last couple of years or so but on a lot of houses (maybe im only just noticing it).

mloc123 · 20-03-2018 04:50PM

Mint Sauce wrote: »

I'd say any house built 80s or later would have the ESB outside, before that the metre would probably be inside.

Yup, I assume the change was to allow for easier meter readings and maybe safety... nothing to do with celtic tiger building practices... predating the tiger by 15-20yrs

B0jangles · 20-03-2018 04:57PM

Sleepy wrote: »

The myriad of 300sqm McMansions complete with obligatory stand-alone "garage" (comprising of a never played on pool table and home bar) built all over the boreens of Ireland will stand testament to the complete lack of Celtic Tiger planning.

You forgot to mention the pillars made from barely disguised Wavin piping on either side of the front door.

Classy.

LirW · 20-03-2018 04:58PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm glad someone mentioned that. What's the craic with that? It seems to just devour some houses? I'm sure it's around decades but ive only seen it myself in the last couple of years or so but on a lot of houses (maybe im only just noticing it).

It's easy to remove really, if they are on houses the owner is either not ar5ed or it's simply abandoned. There are plenty of abandoned celtic tiger mansions here and I swear every single one of it has it.
It seems to me they particularly love celtic tiger builds because they aren't on every house.

LirW · 20-03-2018 05:02PM

And every old celtic tiger house you view is empty par the massive black leather recliner that's randomly placed in the middle of a room.

20-03-2018 05:13PM

Ledger Petite Bullet wrote: »

A lot of retail and commercial architecture and interior design that seemed to be almost entirely inspired by the big brother house

I always thought the Big Brother Houses were modelled on the reception area of <any towns> engineering lubricant supply firm.

Uncomfortable sofas and lightly scuffed vinyl floor tiles, with one-way mirrors strategically placed so callers that steal pens from behind the receptionists desk (while she tries to locate someone who cares to greet possible customers) can be brought to task and offers of instant coffee withheld.

bear1 · 20-03-2018 05:23PM

The fact that you have journalists calling 8-10 storey buildings as "high-rises" says a lot of what our architecture actually looks like.
Seems to me developers were a lot more ambitious during the tiger years with their proposals than they are now for fear that anything radical looking or above 40m will be rejected.

LirW · 20-03-2018 05:28PM

Oh and with that one I'll probably get myself on thin ice:
The cheap wood optic shaker style kitchens with black granite countertops. If you were not that loaded with black appliances. If you had the cash you of course would go for the stainless steel ones. Important is the wine rack over the fridge.
And because it doesn't serve any real purpose beside being a middle class status symbol: The kitchen island. With expensive bar stools that have been sat on twice. They come in 3 options:
Just counter space and half of it is taken up by clutter.
One displaced looking sink that has a ridiculous tap. The sink is either too small or too deep and the lime of the water splashes that go literally everywhere are engrained because the good celtic tiger housewife at some point simply surrendered to get on top of them.
And last but not least, the fanciest one: The island with the cooker on it. Splashes everywhere, the breakfast bar is declared as warzone and won't be used ever because of the fat splashes and film on the leather bar stools, the super expensive bespoke extractor fan never really worked and in general the whole thing looks like an American soap opera show kitchen.

lawred2 · 20-03-2018 05:31PM

Mint Sauce wrote: »

I'd say any house built 80s or later would have the ESB outside, before that the metre would probably be inside.

That's my experience of any house I have lived in here anyway.

Agree with the guttering though, I don't know any house without uPVC guttering, either in white, or brown to match the uPVC frames.

Is it normal for these pvc ESB boxes to have a mains kill switch as well as the meters?

Ours does and it freaks me out that anyone with a ubiquitous allen key can come along and kill your power supply..

bb1234567 · 20-03-2018 05:41PM

bear1 wrote: »

The fact that you have journalists calling 8-10 storey buildings as "high-rises" says a lot of what our architecture actually looks like.
Seems to me developers were a lot more ambitious during the tiger years with their proposals than they are now for fear that anything radical looking or above 40m will be rejected.

Who cares about height? Its more important than good looking buildings are built than how tall they are.Old cities like paris are a lot nicer than any modern high rise city in the world, thats for sure. China ,and many other countries, is building lots of tall buildings and their cities look like absolute ****e, why would you want our city to look like that?In fact, even though high density is good, Id say theres a massive correlation between cities being really ugly and having lots of high rises

Giblet · 20-03-2018 05:42PM

silverharp wrote: »

all the stupid stainless steel used on office buildings and public spaces around town, guaranteed to look cr'p within 10 years and any lights for effect well broken or vandalised

Hello Beacon Court Mall! Manages to be colder inside than out!

whisky_galore · 20-03-2018 05:50PM

From:
http://mcmansionhell.com/post/157457285986/mcmansion-hell-ireland-edition

Celtic tiger style architecture

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