Bachelor’s Walk dates from approximately 1680 when it was laid out as an extension of Ormond Quay, with the building of mercantile residences following on in the early 1700s.
No. 32 is a corner-sited end of terrace five-storey house over a commercial premises which was built around 1800, incorporating a two-bay west elevation fronting onto Bachelor’s Way and a shopfront to ground floor.
It is a protected structure, entered on the RPS Ref No. 328 and is located within a Conservation Area in the Historic Core of the City as defined in the Development Plan.
It has been surveyed under the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage completed in 2016, Reg No: 50010324, and rated as being of ‘Regional Significance’ and cited as being of ‘Architectural interest’.
Along with its three immediate neighbours, it represents a continuation of the Wide Streets Commissioner’s improvements on Lower Sackville Street (O’Connell Street Lower).
As such, it is an important surviving fragment of a designed streetscape, much of which has since vanished, which incorporated common stone shopfronts, identical facades above ground floor and a series of ‘palace’ elevations facing onto the quayside and surrounding street-scape on Lower Sackville Street.
Extensively refurbished in the mid 19th century with the application of Roman Cement render over failing brickwork and the wholesale removal and replacement of the original granite Wide Streets Commissioner’s shopfront, the building still retained its graduated fenestration pattern and essential character.
And while altered substantially, much of the original early 19th century decorative and built fabric survived both internally and externally.
Our engagement in the conservation and restoration of No. 32 arose from Enforcement Action taken by Dublin City Council against a previous owner of the property who had carried out extensive illegal alterations to this Wide Streets Commissioners Shop and Dwelling.
Our client, the new owner, who subsequently purchased the property appointed Kelly and Cogan Architects in 2012 to advise as to sensitive restoration and re-use of the building which critically retained fragmentary elements within the basement of the original granite shop-front.
The building had been severely compromised by later interventions, such as the insertion of iron and steel signage framework which, through expansion following rust action, had caused severe structural delamination of the entirety of the front façade.
Coupled with the previous removal of support piers to the shop-front, the building had become structurally unstable.
The survival of the original working drawings for the Wide Streets Commissioner’s scheme, along with some surviving granite shop-front profiles, allowed close adherence to the original design intent for the shop-front.
The reinstatement of the original stone shop-front design assisted in stabilising the structure while the careful use of Heli-ties was required throughout the façade to re-establish its integrity.
Following examination of the fabric, it was determined that the mid 19th century roman cement render was itself of historic significance and that its removal would cause damage to the surviving brickwork.
It was therefore decided to limit interventions to essential structural stabilisation of the underlying brick fabric, stabilisation of the ground floor shop structure by the installation of a new supporting steel frame and patch render repair in lime to the mid 19th century roman cement render.
These decisions resulted in the building being ‘captured’ at the point of its transformation in the 1840s to its current form rather than in its early 19th century incarnation.
While the works have proven challenging, the reinstatement of this important and iconic quayside building in its 1840’s configuration sets a standard for its neighbours the entire 1800s terrace and is an important not only in terms of the conservation and restoration of built heritage but in terms of urban conservation for the city as a whole.
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Location |
Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1 |
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Date Of Construction |
c. 1800 |
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Client |
Private |
Location: Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1
Date Of Construction: c. 1800
Client: Private
