European Landscape Architecture: Best Practice in Detailing

Ireland

Evaluation

Dublin’s main street is a potential prime retail loca-

tion and the major entrance to the city from the

north and the airport. Its width and the nineteenth-

century buildings which define its edges create

pleasing proportions, but it has much heavy traffic.

The development of wider pavements limits the

impact of the traffic and provides pedestrians with

a more pleasant environment, which is less traffic-

dominated and easier to negotiate. The planting of

the trees to form the three sides of the rectangle

in front of the Post Office building emphasises the

pedestrianised space, an area for a crowd, a solidly

contained and delineated space, in contrast to the

linear carriageways which cut across the space with

their transient movements. Over time, as the trees

increase in volume, this will become even more

apparent. The interplay between the history of the

Easter Rising and the contemporary priorities of city

use are well illustrated by the spatial development

and containment of this design.

There is evident quality in the design, the materials,

the implementation and the maintenance, which

provide a significant plaza in front of this histori-

cally important building. At present, when one is

within this ‘room’, the sense of containment feels

less than when one is outside, looking in through

the treed boundary. The scale of the buildings, the

width of the street, the traffic, the Spire and the lack

of significant volume in the trees all contribute to

this perception. However, once the trees establish

greater bulk, they will become a more dominant

element of the design. The choice of pleached trees

emphasises the ground design, while the two trees

at the base of the Spire provide an effective frame,

limiting the background confusion. The stainless

steel street furniture is echoed by the posts for the

traffic lights, producing a pleasing suite of comple-

mentary fittings.

The specification, maintenance and management of

the stone paving have all been based upon sound

research. Collaboration and positive working practi-

ces between client and landscape architect become

evident when discussing this site with either party.

The units of paving appear small compared with the

bulk of the stone pillars of the portico, the built face

of the GPO and other contemporary schemes, but

a compromise was necessary in the light of experi-

ence, and a small reduction in aesthetic values will

be compensated by the maintenance of the surface

integrity over time. The surface is presently in an

excellent condition.

There have been compromises in the surface lev-

els on the site, owing to the highway engineering

requirement to maintain kerbs along bus routes and

the designer’s desire for level pedestrian access.

This has resulted in minimal kerb height crossing

2.17
Band of pink granite paving with tree pits and
sunken light fittings