# Best and worst designed buildings in Ireland



## micmclo (29 Jun 2012)

I don't think we've done this before 

What I like
Galway-Mayo IT
New courts building in Dublin
[broken link removed]
Belfast City Hospital. Some hate it but I lived in Belfast and it grew on me, city would miss it if it was gone 


What I dislike
[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]
[broken link removed].  
American Embassy


[broken link removed] is beautiful but County Hall is an eyesore
Maybe Ireland is getting worse?



That's enough from me
Put up your nominations 
Your list of fame and your list of shame

Why can't we add pics on AAM?


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## Crugers (29 Jun 2012)

micmclo said:


> ...
> [broken link removed].


Ugly a hell but I can't condemn it!
I've fond memories of using it as a base one bank holiday weekend back in the early 70's...


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## truthseeker (29 Jun 2012)

[broken link removed] shockingly bad eyesore on Kill Lane. The picture doesnt do it credit, it stands alone and just makes the area look ugly.

I dont know if its still there, but the Braun Factory in Carlow was awful as well. 

Phibsboro Shopping Centre is AWFUL!!!


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## Purple (29 Jun 2012)

Crugers said:


> Ugly a hell but I can't condemn it!
> I've fond memories of using it as a base one bank holiday weekend back in the early 70's...



My God that's one ugly building!


I'd add Liberty Hall in Dublin.
Ugle on the outside and ugly on the inside though it scores for having such an ironic name!


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## bazermc (29 Jun 2012)

Dublin Airport Terminal 1 building

http://www.dublinairport.com/gns/at-the-airport/terminal1.aspx

Horrible building


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## Firefly (29 Jun 2012)

The Glucksman in UCC is a stunning building. Also in UCC, the Science building is the worst abomination in the college.


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## dereko1969 (29 Jun 2012)

truthseeker said:


> [broken link removed] shockingly bad eyesore on Kill Lane. The picture doesnt do it credit, it stands alone and just makes the area look ugly.
> 
> I dont know if its still there, but the Braun Factory in Carlow was awful as well.
> 
> Phibsboro Shopping Centre is AWFUL!!!


 
I like that building on Kill Lane!

Commissioners of Irish Lights in Dún Laoghaire is lovely
http://www.openhousedublin.com/index.php/tour/commissioners-of-irish-lights1/

Might find a few more on open house


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## dereko1969 (29 Jun 2012)

bazermc said:


> Dublin Airport Terminal 1 building
> 
> http://www.dublinairport.com/gns/at-the-airport/terminal1.aspx
> 
> Horrible building


 
That view of it is awful but the original building is superb

http://www.openhousedublin.com/index.php/tour/old-terminal-building/

I also really like the Independent printing press off the M7, form and function.


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## micmclo (29 Jun 2012)

You see it from Waterford though I'm unsure if it belongs to the cats or to the deise

Either way, the abandoned hotel need to be demolished or reopened, one or the other. Not just left to rot

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4088/5084374415_15c6b772e5_z.jpg


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## boaber (29 Jun 2012)

The apartment block near the Blackhorse Luas stop is pretty awful! Hope this link works http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=inchic...wiMjX_yOHB4cCZHGiW5U2Q&cbp=12,276.76,,0,-13.8

Hate buildings that use that green copper


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## micmclo (29 Jun 2012)

You don't like GMIT in post one so?


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## PaddyBloggit (29 Jun 2012)

micmclo said:


> Why can't we add pics on AAM?



we can .... just go advanced!


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## becky (1 Jul 2012)

I think the kip of a hotel in galway looks great against the blue sky.  Doesn't seem like salthill at all, more like somewhere in Cuba.

I like GMIT but think it needs a bit more space in front of it.  Cork city hall is lovely too.

I don't like the rest of the buildings in the OP at all.

I like Cork Opera Hall too http://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/5744598075/.

I usually have a coffee across the street when I'm down there and it's a nice spot to relax.


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## RMCF (1 Jul 2012)

Does NI count?

This building in Derry is very nicely designed.

It was short listed for a prestigious prize in 2010.

[broken link removed]


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## Deiseblue (1 Jul 2012)

micmclo said:


> You see it from Waterford though I'm unsure if it belongs to the cats or to the deise
> 
> Either way, the abandoned hotel need to be demolished or reopened, one or the other. Not just left to rot
> 
> http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4088/5084374415_15c6b772e5_z.jpg



The Ard Ri - once Waterford's most prestigious hotel with great views over the quay.

Now so derelict it had to be covered by a massive tarpaulin for the Tall Ships festival.

There was some great graffiti on the entrance - " you can check out any time you like but you can never leave "


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## Guest105 (1 Jul 2012)

becky said:


> I think the kip of a hotel in galway looks great against the blue sky. Doesn't seem like salthill at all, more like somewhere in Cuba.


 

I was thinking it looked like something from the former East Berlin


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## dereko1969 (2 Jul 2012)

micmclo said:


> You don't like GMIT in post one so?


 
I do, along with the other ones you included, sorry should have mentioned that.


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## Sol28 (3 Jul 2012)

What about the apartments on Merrion Road- Elmpark I think - Ugly buildings overcrowding the space. Elmpark


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## TarfHead (3 Jul 2012)

Sol28 said:


> What about the apartments on Merrion Road- Elmpark I think - Ugly buildings overcrowding the space. Elmpark


 
Wouldn't get my vote. I like them .

There's an interesting looking building (Seán O'Casey community centre) in East Wall, when viewed from the front. Clad in green with round windows of differing dimensions.

When viewed from the other side, it's an ugly hulk of pre-cast concrete. It's a pity the architect ran out of imagination, or money.


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## Complainer (30 Jul 2012)

Deiseblue said:


> The Ard Ri - once Waterford's most prestigious hotel with great views over the quay.
> 
> Now so derelict it had to be covered by a massive tarpaulin for the Tall Ships festival.
> 
> There was some great graffiti on the entrance - " you can check out any time you like but you can never leave "



Used to be Jury's Waterford at one stage as well. I have fond memories involving a bottle of champagne spot prize and the jacuzzi there.

The Courts building looks completely out of place to me. Nothing wrong with the building itself, but it just doesn't fit there. I went past that glorified pill-box on Kill Lane over the weekend. Again, looks way out of place.

My local Dundrum Town Centre is a bit of a monstrosity, but seems to fit well into its surroundings. They made clever use of the sloping site, with exits to ground at all three main levels.


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## joe sod (31 Jul 2012)

i dont think ireland really has that many big stand alone buildings etc that stand out as ugly simply because to be really ugly it must be really big or in a very prominent place. Most of the ugly development has been the hap hazourd industrial development on the outskirts of towns, or big warehouses and units plonked in the middle of the country, really the ugliness stems from in appropriate planning rather than from bad design of individual buildings


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## Knuttell (31 Jul 2012)

The Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock,it hurts my eyes to look at it,an obscenity on the landscape.


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## Thirsty (6 Aug 2012)

Might want to let these guys know! 

[broken link removed]


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## TarfHead (7 Aug 2012)

Knuttell said:


> The Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock,it hurts my eyes to look at it,an obscenity on the landscape.


 
In fairness, the surrounding landscape does not have anything to recommend itself  !


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## Purple (7 Aug 2012)

TarfHead said:


> In fairness, the surrounding landscape does not have anything to recommend itself  !



A blot on a blot of a landscape?


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## T McGibney (7 Aug 2012)

Croke Park may well be the best designed building in the country, with excellent views, ease of access, egress etc. 

Thomond Park is another candidate, it looks very good but I've never been inside it. 

I'd consider Terminal Two in Dublin Airport to be one of the worst designed buildings. For a new building, it's missing many of the basic facilities that are taken for granted in Terminal One, eg its extremely difficult to access non-DAA buses from T2. And every time I've been there, the check-in areas are cramped and stuffy.


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## TarfHead (7 Aug 2012)

T McGibney said:


> I'd consider Terminal Two in Dublin Airport to be one of the worst designed buildings .. check-in areas are cramped and stuffy.


 
I've been there once and can't understand why one would think that of the check-in area.

And the availability of non-DAA buses is hardly a building design issue. More likely to be a DAA policy issue ?


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## T McGibney (7 Aug 2012)

TarfHead said:


> I've been there once and can't understand why one would think that of the check-in area.



We must have been there at different times. When its busy, its almost as cramped as Terminal 1. And its too hot.  And it is a maze of escalators and stairs, both before and after security. Certainly not worth the gazillions they spent on it.



TarfHead said:


> And the availability of non-DAA buses is hardly a building design issue. More likely to be a DAA policy issue ?



Forcing customers to walk in the rain to the main car parks and the coach/bus area is the essence of poor design.


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## Betsy Og (9 Aug 2012)

Limerick:

The bad - all that 1980's brown brick like the old Dunnes on Sarsfield street and that block, Henry Street Garda station, a lot of UL, the Parkway. UL student residences with timber cladding - washed out grey already. Sarsfield House (another version of Hawkins). Dark greybrick building on Dock Road - opposite Steamboat Quay apartments.

#1 vote for worst building in Limerick, nay the country, goes to the Eircom building on Roches Street - I saw a guy being dragged out of a Lada in there for interrogation - I jest but that's the emoption it invokes.

The good - Thomond Park (only iconic modern building in the city - ignoring the 'Toxic Tower' (Riverpoint) which is a reminder of the crash), Brooks sandstone colour building on Henry Street (& most of the redeveloped Henry Street).

Most modern stuff in the city is "grand" - not offensive but nothing to write home about.


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## Purple (9 Aug 2012)

T McGibney said:


> Croke Park may well be the best designed building in the country, with excellent views, ease of access, egress etc.
> 
> Thomond Park is another candidate, it looks very good but I've never been inside it.
> 
> I'd consider Terminal Two in Dublin Airport to be one of the worst designed buildings. For a new building, it's missing many of the basic facilities that are taken for granted in Terminal One, eg its extremely difficult to access non-DAA buses from T2. And every time I've been there, the check-in areas are cramped and stuffy.



I agree about Croke Park. Thomond is also good but doesn't stand-out.

I don't like T2 because it could be any airport terminal in the world. I do find it easy to get around & find it well laid out. 
The only bus I get from there is the one to the private long-term carpark, the one that goes from the back of the short term carpark at T1. It's easy enough to get to from T2. No airport is perfect and Dublin is, in my opinion, one of the better ones.


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## RMCF (25 Aug 2012)

I posted a Derry building earlier in the thread that I believe is a great example of a fantastic design.

And here is another Derry building, this time at the opposite end of the scale. It has always been regarded as ugly in the city

[broken link removed]

Even worse, it is a big lump of a thing, and blocks out a large section of the city's historic walls.


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