Madam, - Cork City Council is surprised and disappointed at the tone and content of the article by Mr Frank McDonald in your Property Supplement of November 10th on the architectural quality of developments in Cork City.
I am astonished at Mr McDonald's complete about-turn in attitude. Just a year ago, in an article headed "Cork is Ringing with Confidence",he wrote: "A lot of what is being built in Cork is very high quality work. The new library at CIT won the gold medal of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland for its architects de Blacam and Meagher, who are also building an administration block, catering college and student centre arranged around an oval plaza".
The design quality of new work in the Cork area has been praised by Mr Anthony Reddy, president of the RIAI. At the launch of a special issue of Architecture Ireland to mark Cork 2005 he stressed that "Cork firms are engaging in alliances to broaden the scope of their skill and knowledge basis and producing buildings to very high standards, including the UCC student centre, Ballincollig Town Centre and the Nursing School at UCC. Smaller firms are producing work of national significance and winning Irish architecture awards, including Magee Creedon for their apartments at Popes Quay."
The new maternity wing at Cork University Hospital, the extension to the Cork Public Museum, student apartments at Lower Glanmire Road by Paul Hudson and Associates and many others have been designed to a very high standard and will stand comparison with developments anywhere in Europe.
There are many examples of high quality architectural design either recently completed or under construction in the Cork area, including the new Cork School of Music, new Civic Offices for the City Council and the Web Works at Albert Quay. The Lewis Glucksman Art Gallery at University College Cork by O'Donnell and Twomey is a building of international quality and was nominated for this year's Stirling Prize for Architecture.
In the area of building conservation the RIAI silver medal for conservation was awarded this year to Jack Coughlan and Associates for the conservation of the historic and architecturally important terrace at Fenns Quay. The city architect's department of Cork City Council was also awarded the RIAI's silver medal for the restoration of St Peter's Church as a vision centre for the City.
The conservation and reuse of the Frank O'Connor house at Douglas Street by Hudson Associates on behalf of the City Council was among the winners of the Irish Architecture Awards of 2004. Other important conservation projects include the restoration of the Court House at Washington Street, of Blackrock Castle as an astronomy centre, and the old city waterworks at Lee Road as a Life Time Lab Environmental Centre.
High quality design and a major improvement in the quality of the public realm has also been a key feature of recent work in Cork City area. These include two elegant new pedestrian bridges across the river Lee at the Mardyke and Cornmarket Street, the award winning refurbishment of St Patrick's Street and Oliver Plunkett Street, the new Honan Square designed by Reddy O'Riordan Staehli at UCC and the major amenity at Lapps Quay created by the Howard Holdings Development designed by Scott Tallon Walker. This has eliminated traffic from a city street and created a very attractive boardwalk for the city.
Cork City is experiencing a welcome surge in development of all kinds and the City Council is confident that everyone involved in the development process from developers to architects, engineers and planners, is rising to the challenge to create a high quality urban environment for Cork City into the future. - Yours, etc,
JIM O'DONOVAN, Director of Services, Planning & Development Directorate, Cork City Council.