Fitzwilton House | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Demolished |
Type | Office |
Architectural style | Brutalist |
Address | Wilton Terrace and Cumberland Road |
Town or city | Dublin |
Country | Ireland |
Coordinates | 53°20′00″N6°15′02″W / 53.333318°N 6.250522°W |
Elevation | 50 m (160 ft) |
Construction started | 1967 |
Estimated completion | 1969 |
Renovated | 2003 |
Demolished | 2018 |
Height | 30 m (98 ft) |
Technical details | |
Material | concrete and steel |
Floor count | 12 |
Floor area | 75,000 square feet |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Ronald Lyon Estate Architects and Emanuel Schoolheifer & Don Burley |
Developer | Basil Goulding |
Main contractor | G&T Crampton |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) | Scott Tallon Walker |
References | |
[1] |
Fitzwilton House was a brutalist concrete and steel office block in Dublin, Ireland completed in 1969 and demolished in October 2018. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The block was developed by Basil Goulding and for many years housed the Embassy of Australia, Dublin as well as a number of businesses run or owned by Goulding. [6]
The building included a number of commissioned works by notable Irish and British artists including Robert Ballagh, Barrie Cooke, Anne Madden and Michael Farrell, some of which have since been transferred to the Trinity College Dublin Art Collection. [7]
Planning permission for the building was received in 1964, just 3 weeks before the new planning laws were brought into force. [8] [9] The structure replaced 6 classical style houses which faced on to the Grand Canal and Wilton Terrace and sat adjacent to the grounds of Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club while overlooking the triangular Wilton Square park.
The name was a portmanteau of "Fitzwilliam" and "Wilton", references to the Fitzwilliam estate for which Fitzwilliam Square and tennis club were named as well as the adjacent streets named Wilton such as Wilton Terrace, Place and Square.
The office was constructed for Fitzwilton Securities, a company mainly owned by Tony O'Reilly via its takeover of W. & H. M. Goulding. [10] [11]
In 1982, the building was acquired by IPUT. [12]
A new office developed by IPUT real estate and designed by Henry J Lyons named One Wilton Park replaced Fitzwilton House in 2022. [13] [14] As of 2023 this building houses some of the Irish offices of LinkedIn. [15]
Dublin is the capital city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2022 census, the city council area had a population of 592,713, while Dublin and its suburbs had a population of 1,263,219, and County Dublin had a population of 1,501,500, making it the largest city by population on the island of Ireland.
Blackrock is an affluent suburb of Dublin, Ireland, 3 km (1.9 mi) northwest of Dún Laoghaire. It is named after the local geological rock formation to be found in the area of Blackrock Park. In the late 18th century, the Blackrock Road was a common place for highway robberies. The Blackrock baths, provided for by the railway company in 1839, became popular in the 19th century but Blackrock is now a tourist destination.
Merrion Square is a Georgian garden square on the southside of Dublin city centre.
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St Stephen's Green is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Lord Ardilaun. The square is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named after it, while on its surrounding streets are the offices of a number of public bodies as well as a stop on one of Dublin's Luas tram lines. It is often informally called Stephen's Green. At 22 acres (8.9 ha), it is the largest of the parks in Dublin's main Georgian garden squares. Others include nearby Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square.
The architecture of Ireland is one of the most visible features in the Irish countryside – with remains from all eras since the Stone Age abounding. Ireland is famous for its ruined and intact Norman and Anglo-Irish castles, small whitewashed thatched cottages and Georgian urban buildings. What are unaccountably somewhat less famous are the still complete Palladian and Rococo country houses which can be favourably compared to anything similar in northern Europe, and the country's many Gothic and neo-Gothic cathedrals and buildings.
Merrion Street is a major Georgian street on the southside of Dublin, Ireland, which runs along one side of Merrion Square. It is divided into Merrion Street Lower, Merrion Square West and Merrion Street Upper. It holds one entrance to the seat of the Irish Parliament, the Oireachtas, major government offices and two major cultural institutions.
Fitzwilton is a privately held investment company, today owned by Sir Anthony O'Reilly and his brother in law, Peter Goulandris, through Stoneworth Investment Ltd. It has been involved with many businesses in Ireland.
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Sir William Basil Goulding, 3rd Baronet was an Irish art collector, cricketer, squash player, prominent businessman and amateur architect.
The Iveagh Gardens is a public park located between Clonmel Street and Upper Hatch Street, near the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. It is a national, as opposed to a municipal park, and designated as a National Historic Property. The gardens are almost completely surrounded by buildings making them less noticeable and a little hard to find, unlike other green spaces in Dublin.
Mount Pleasant Square is a Georgian garden square on the border of Rathmines and Ranelagh, in the city of Dublin, Ireland. It is about a twenty-five minute walk from Grafton Street.
Ruth Durlacher was an Irish tennis player. She played in the Wimbledon Championships between 1897 and 1907.
University College Dublin is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest university and among Europe's most prestigious.
Blessington Street Basin is a former drinking water reservoir in northern central Dublin which operated from 1810 until the 1970s, serving the north city. It became the central feature of a public park in 1891, and this park was renewed and reopened in 1994.
Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club is a tennis and squash club in Dublin, Ireland, with indoor swimming, gymnasium, padel and clubhouse facilities. Established in 1877, Fitzwilliam is one of the oldest tennis clubs in the world.
The Embassy of Australia in Ireland is the diplomatic mission of the Commonwealth of Australia in Ireland. The embassy is located in the capital city of Ireland, Dublin.
Harcourt Terrace is a Regency and Victorian terrace located in Dublin City, Ireland. It links the Grand Canal at Charlemont Place with Adelaide Road, near the National Concert Hall.
G&T Crampton is an Irish property development and construction company. It entered liquidation in 2021.
The Irish Hard Court Championships was an early combined men's and women's clay court tennis tournament founded in 1924. The first championships was played at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland. The tournament ran annually for fifteen editions until 1973.