Mahoney Architects have asked the public to join their campaign for a radical transformation of the abandoned Anglo Irish Bank headquarters into an innovative public park and a focal point for the commemoration of the Centenary of the Irish Republic (2016).
The scheme designed by Mahony Architects has attracted considerable attention in the media and the campaign can be joined by visiting the Facebook page, Trees on the Quays, and website www.treesonthequays.com.
Central to the scheme is a vertical park where nature, rather than commerce, will re-colonise the concrete structure, creating a new landmark on the Liffey Quays. The project will have three main elements, say Mahony Architecture: A ‘Neighbourhood Park’ running along Upper Mayor Street, providing parkland amenities, recreational facilities and enhancing the quality of life for the urban community. The park will be landscaped with the flora of Ireland, creating a place where children can learn through familiarity the names of the indigenous trees and wildflowers. The second element will be ‘The Vertical Park’, a re-colonisation by nature rather than commerce of the abandoned shell of the Anglo Irish Bank building. The existing concrete floor plates will be punched out to create a honeycombed lattice and the resulting voids will be filled with banks of earth to create a stepped landscape, forming terraces in which trees and other plants will grow. Visitors will be taken by lifts to the roof top, a cable car will also deliver visitors from the South Quays enjoying panoramic city views. Most importantly, the Vertical Park will serve as a public commons, open to all, a National Asset to be carefully nurtured and proudly passed on to future generations. Placed on top of the park, overlooking the city will be an ellipsoid structure containing ‘The Meeting Room For Very Important Decisions’.
The third element, providing a ground level counterbalance to the ellipsoid volume, will be a hill, whose hollowed centre will form an open air public debating arena. Becoming ‘Hill Twenty Sixteen (2016)’ and resurrected from the ruins of our most recent troubles, it will provide a venue where open and public debate can take place and influence the governance and future direction of our country and where we can celebrate significant national events and achievements.
Mahony Architects are currently seeking a licence to develop this site on behalf of the people of Ireland, as a civic space that will rise above the ruin brought about by short sighted greed, poor governance and mistaken values, within the timeframe of the centenary celebration. www.treesonthequays.com.
