WHITE WATER RAFTING CENTRE DUBLIN 1 CONSERVATION REPORT August 2019 © Howley Hayes Architects 2019 Howley Hayes Architects were commissioned by Dublin City Council to prepare a conservation report for George’s Dock, a protected structure on the north quayside of the Liffey, in Dublin 1. Site surveys of George’s Dock were undertaken in early 2019. The purpose of this report is to assess the condition and significance of the docks and its setting, to inform the development of the site for recreational and commercial use. 3 4 CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 2.0 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE 2 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE DOCKS 7 4.0 CONDITION OF THE DOCKS 8 5.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOCKS AND SITE 9 6.0 CONSERVATION STRATEGY 10 7.0 DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 12 8.0 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS 15 APPENDIX A : Conservation Works and Methodology. 5 6 1.0 INTRODUCTION also responsible for the design of the tobacco storehouses constructed alongside the docks. The dock was named for King George VI, who visited In 1791 the new Dublin Custom House was Ireland in 1821, and was invited to officially open completed on the north quay of the River Liffey. the dock, but he failed to appear on the day. One Widely considered to be the master-piece of warehouse, Stack A, was refurbished in 2005, and is the English-born architect James’ Gandon, the now known as the CHQ building. It is a significant building was commissioned by John Beresford, First industrial building in its own right, incorporating an Commissioner of the Revenue, as part of a large interesting and innovative cast and wrought iron scale redevelopment of the customs and shipping roof truss design. operations for the city of Dublin. Three wet docks were constructed directly east of the Custom The dock structures consist of coursed limestone House in subsequent years; the East Dock, or Old ashlar walls, with granite copings. Originally Dock, completed in 1796, George’s Dock, in 1821, constructed to a depth of nine metres, George’s and finally Revenue Dock, or Inner Dock, completed Dock has now been infilled with a gravel bed, which in 1824. sits approximately four metres below the granite coping. In 1997, a residential development was The East, or Old dock, was also constructed to completed on the north and east sides of the Inner the designs of architect James Gandon, but was dock, which included two apartment blocks built completely infilled in 1927 to make way for the within the basin itself, supported on concrete piles. extension of Amiens Street to the quays. No evidence of this structure remains. A large pontoon currently sits in George’s dock, which has been leased for various events in recent George’s Dock and the Inner Dock were designed years. George’s Dock is a protected structure (RPS by Scottish Engineer John Rennie, who was 3173). Fig. 1 George’s Dock and the Inner Dock, with the Custom House to the west (Google Aerial View 2019) 1 2.0 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE Beresford initially approached the London based, Sir William Chambers to be the architect, but as Chambers was too busy, he recommended Early History his English-born assistant James Gandon be The first custom house in Dublin was constructed commissioned. The Custom House was to become in 1621 on the south side of the River Liffey close Gandon’s first major commission in Ireland, after to the present-day Grattan Bridge. In 1707 a new which he went on to design the Four Courts, King’s custom house, designed by Thomas Burgh, was Inns and Emo Court, all significant buildings in their constructed on Essex Quay close to Temple Bar, own right. at the site of the present day Clarence Hotel. However by the late 1770s it had become difficult Works on the new Custom House commenced for large ships to navigate this far upstream, and in 1781, and took ten years to complete, at an the building itself was deemed unsafe. The Rt. exorbitant cost. Lewis describes the building as a Hon. John Beresford, who was appointed Chief ‘stately structure of the Doric order….of which Commissioner in 1780, proposed a new Custom the south is entirely of Portland stone, and the House, with associated warehouses and docks others of mountain granite’. Gandon went on to further downstream. This decision was greatly design the first dock associated with the Custom opposed by the city merchants who feared it would house, initially called the Revenue Dock, though it devalue their properties along Essex Quay, but these came to be known as the East or Old Dock, and protests fell on deaf ears. Beresford, along with was completed in 1796. It was a simple rectangular several of the emerging wealthy elite of Dublin, had basin, built of undressed battered stone walls, with a purchased almost one square mile of swamp land single set of gates and timber base at the entrance. on the north side of the river opposite George’s Unusual for the time, it did not contain a two-gate Quay, and were determined to relocate the customs system, or lock, which reduced reliance on the tidal and excise operation to this location to enhance the change of rivers during operation, and by that date value of their landholding. had become commonplace in many contemporary Fig.2 Dublin, looking west,1817- aquatint and etching by T.S. Roberts (National Gallery of Ireland) 2 dock structures, including William Jessop’s work at the Grand Canal Basin in Dublin. Gandon’s dock, with one gate, could only admit or release ships for a couple of hours either side of high tide, as it was still dependant on the tidal flow. Early Nineteenth-Century Development By the early nineteenth century plans for two additional docks were underway, to be located further to the east of the Old Dock to accommodate the growing number of ships arriving in Dublin. Dock engineering had continued to progress in the intervening years, and the east dock had become obsolete and was no longer fit for purpose. In 1814 Scottish engineer John Rennie was Fig.4 The Triumphal Arch, in its current position beside the CHQ. commissioned to design and supervise the building of George’s Dock, the Inner Dock and masonry bases at the entrance locks, two sets of two substantial tobacco warehouses. A keen curvilinear lock gates and curved walls. Regular and experienced engineer, Rennie had already counter-forts; cantilevered retaining walls or completed dock commissions in London, Hull and buttresses, were constructed to the outer side of Grimsby, and unlike Gandon, was an engineer first the dock wall to deal with lateral thrust. and foremost, interested in modern techniques in maritime construction. Rennie assessed the George’s dock was completed in 1821, and named condition of the East dock, determined it inadequate after King George VI, who was to have presided at for reuse, and proposed substantial rebuilding of the official opening. He was, however, delayed by a three of the walls along with the entrance channel. personal engagement, and failed to arrive in Dublin, and instead Lord Castlecoote officiated at the Rennie’s designs for George’s dock and the inner ceremony. Rennie died in October of that year, and dock incorporated many of the advancements of the second dock, the Inner Dock, was completed the late eighteenth century, including brick and in 1824 under the supervision of British engineer Thomas Telford. The triumphal arch, constructed in 1813, also designed by Rennie, marked the formal entrance to the docks from Amiens Street, and originally sat to the east end of Eden Quay. Mid to late Nineteenth-Century Development Despite the engineering prowess of John Rennie, by the mid 1830s the Custom House docks had started to become out-dated; the locks too small for the larger steamers and the Liffey tides restricting hours of operation. In 1869 the Ballast Board, established for the preservation and improvement of the Port of Dublin, purchased the Custom House Fig.3 Proposed Custom House Docks, c.1813, Rennie (National Library docks and warehouses from the Crown. Plans for of Ireland). 3 Fig.5 North Wall, 1836, from the Ordnance Survey preliminary plan, Dublin city (National Archives of Ireland). Fig .6 Ordnance Survey Map of 1888-1913 (25 inch). 4 departments such as Inland Revenue, Local government and Income Tax. During the Irish War of Independence the building was the target of an IRA attack in 1921, when much of Gandon’s interior was lost, and the copper dome melted and collapsed. In the following years the newly established Irish government carried out comprehensive repairs and refurbishment works, including the construction of a new dome, and today it houses several government departments. Fig. 7 The Scherzer Bridges, on the north quay In 1927 the Old Dock was filled in, to make way for the Memorial Road, or extension of Amiens Street. By the mid to latter part of the twentieth century the demand for coal began to wane, as oil became a more popular source of fuel, and the docks eventually fell into disuse. Established in 1987 the Custom House Docks Development Authority sought to redevelop eleven hectares of land, including the docks and warehouses for commercial and residential use. This resulted in the relocation of the triumphal arch in 1988 to its current position outside the CHQ building. Between 1988 and 1994, a number of new Fig. 8 The Custom House commercial developments were raised around the the upgrade of the docks never materialised and docks, including the International Services Centre, focus instead shifted to the development of new situated directly west of George’s Dock and No.