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ADELAIDE CHAMBERS
Peter Street, Dublin 8.
1999-2001
Client:
Benton Property Holding Ltd
Conservation Consultant:
Dr. Thomas Brennan
Structural Consultants:
Walsh Goodfellow
Mechanical & Electrical Consultants:
Dervan Engineering Consultants Ltd.
Quantity Surveyors:
Michael Hickey & Associates
Accomodation 3000 m2 offices
Our approach to conservation is demonstrated in the renovation of two original hospital buildings on Peter Street, Dublin 8.
The original, built at the end of the 19th century, had been added to over the following 100 years to encompass the whole site bounded by Peter Street, Whitefriar Street and Wood Street.
We retained the two original buildings which were the only pieces of sustainable architecture on the site and removed the various extensions that were added over the years.
The original staircase had architectural merit and the wards made fine office spaces as they were.
To redress the imbalance between the scale of the stairwell and the usable space, office space has been added in an extension to the side of these buildings.
The extension retains the scale and vertical proportions of the retained buildings but is contructed with a contemporary curtain wall designed to echo the existing fenestration.
A new staircase at the rear is glassed in a sheer ‘futurewall’ glazing system which forms a feature in the courtyard of the residential development behind.
The extension and the new staircase are designed as contemporary structures in their own right. However, we decided that it would be more visually correct, to reinstate the original entrance porch, which had been demolished in the 1960’s, with a replica drawn from original engravings.
This flexible attitude to the conservation of old buildings allows for a more visually pleasing result.
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