THE ARCHESMURAL ON DOCK ROAD IN WATERFORD
MURAL ON DOCK ROAD FERRYBANK [BY DUBLIN BORN ARCHES FOR THE WATERFORD WALLS STREET ART FESTIVAL]
I used a Sony A7RIV and a Sony FE 70-200 F2.8 GM lens
This mural was painted in August 2018 during the fourth edition of the Waterford Walls International Street Art Festival. I Photographed it in August 2021 but did not publish any photographs until August 2026.
Artwork Details
Artist: ACHES
Festival: Waterford Walls
Location: Dock Road / Ferrybank, Waterford (on the gable end beside Flynn's Off-Licence)
Style: Rendered in ACHES's signature additive RGB colour separation / sub-pixel digital glitch technique, where vertical striped channels of colour combine optically from a distance to construct the tonal depth of the portrait.
The Artist & Visual Style
ACHES is a Dublin-born street artist, muralist, and graphic designer who began writing graffiti as a teenager before studying Visual Communications at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD). His signature aesthetic bridges traditional graffiti hand-lettering, portraiture, and digital display technology.
Colour Theory & Digital Glitch: His work explores additive (RGB) and subtractive (CMYK) colour separation. By superimposing striped, offset sub-pixel layers and translucent colour bands directly onto raw brick or concrete, he translates screen mechanics (such as CRT raster scans, digital compression artifacts, and chromatic aberration) into large-scale analogue spray-paint pieces.
Optical Mixing: Viewed close-up, the imagery dissolves into stark, hard-edged vertical bars of flat colour; when viewed from a distance, the human eye performs the colour mixing, resolving the striped channels into naturalistic skin tones and three-dimensional facial contours.
Relationship with Waterford Walls
Waterford Walls has served as a key recurring canvas for ACHES throughout his development as one of Ireland's foremost contemporary street artists. The festival's large-scale industrial walls and gable ends offer the expansive sightlines essential for his optical effects to resolve fully for passing pedestrians and motorists. His recurring contributions across festival editions in Waterford have helped define the town's reputation as a major open-air gallery, with his distinct sub-pixel portraits standing out as landmark anchor pieces in districts like Ferrybank and the city centre.
This exact location on in sits directly within the transformative footprint of the Waterford North Quays Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) and its associated Public Infrastructure Project.
Context & Status
The North Quays Public Infrastructure Project
Historical Use & Dereliction: The low-rise building at the front operated as Flynn’s Off-Licence before falling derelict, leaving the gable wall behind it exposed.
Road Realignment & Public Infrastructure Works: Under the North Quays Public Infrastructure Project (funded by the Urban Regeneration & Development Fund, the NTA, and Waterford City & County Council), Dock Road, Fountain Street, and Abbey Road have undergone comprehensive realignment, widening, and junction restructuring. This road widening and civil works scheme forms the primary access route linking the North Quays SDZ to the wider road network.
New Public Transport Hub & Plaza: The land directly opposite and adjacent along this stretch of Dock Road is the site of the relocated, multi-modal Waterford Integrated Transport Hub (relocating Plunkett Station onto the SDZ site) and an expansive public entrance plaza fronting onto Dock Road.
SDZ Regeneration Footprint: The broader surrounding site is part of the masterplanned mixed-use development comprising commercial, retail, and residential blocks. Because this corridor was designated for carriageway widening, active travel cycle paths, and public realm improvements serving the new transport interchange and the River Suir Sustainable Transport Bridge, these roadside derelict structures and boundary walls were cleared and incorporated into the ongoing public infrastructure works.
I used a Sony A7RIV and a Sony FE 70-200 F2.8 GM lens
This mural was painted in August 2018 during the fourth edition of the Waterford Walls International Street Art Festival. I Photographed it in August 2021 but did not publish any photographs until August 2026.
Artwork Details
Artist: ACHES
Festival: Waterford Walls
Location: Dock Road / Ferrybank, Waterford (on the gable end beside Flynn's Off-Licence)
Style: Rendered in ACHES's signature additive RGB colour separation / sub-pixel digital glitch technique, where vertical striped channels of colour combine optically from a distance to construct the tonal depth of the portrait.
The Artist & Visual Style
ACHES is a Dublin-born street artist, muralist, and graphic designer who began writing graffiti as a teenager before studying Visual Communications at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD). His signature aesthetic bridges traditional graffiti hand-lettering, portraiture, and digital display technology.
Colour Theory & Digital Glitch: His work explores additive (RGB) and subtractive (CMYK) colour separation. By superimposing striped, offset sub-pixel layers and translucent colour bands directly onto raw brick or concrete, he translates screen mechanics (such as CRT raster scans, digital compression artifacts, and chromatic aberration) into large-scale analogue spray-paint pieces.
Optical Mixing: Viewed close-up, the imagery dissolves into stark, hard-edged vertical bars of flat colour; when viewed from a distance, the human eye performs the colour mixing, resolving the striped channels into naturalistic skin tones and three-dimensional facial contours.
Relationship with Waterford Walls
Waterford Walls has served as a key recurring canvas for ACHES throughout his development as one of Ireland's foremost contemporary street artists. The festival's large-scale industrial walls and gable ends offer the expansive sightlines essential for his optical effects to resolve fully for passing pedestrians and motorists. His recurring contributions across festival editions in Waterford have helped define the town's reputation as a major open-air gallery, with his distinct sub-pixel portraits standing out as landmark anchor pieces in districts like Ferrybank and the city centre.
This exact location on in sits directly within the transformative footprint of the Waterford North Quays Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) and its associated Public Infrastructure Project.
Context & Status
The North Quays Public Infrastructure Project
Historical Use & Dereliction: The low-rise building at the front operated as Flynn’s Off-Licence before falling derelict, leaving the gable wall behind it exposed.
Road Realignment & Public Infrastructure Works: Under the North Quays Public Infrastructure Project (funded by the Urban Regeneration & Development Fund, the NTA, and Waterford City & County Council), Dock Road, Fountain Street, and Abbey Road have undergone comprehensive realignment, widening, and junction restructuring. This road widening and civil works scheme forms the primary access route linking the North Quays SDZ to the wider road network.
New Public Transport Hub & Plaza: The land directly opposite and adjacent along this stretch of Dock Road is the site of the relocated, multi-modal Waterford Integrated Transport Hub (relocating Plunkett Station onto the SDZ site) and an expansive public entrance plaza fronting onto Dock Road.
SDZ Regeneration Footprint: The broader surrounding site is part of the masterplanned mixed-use development comprising commercial, retail, and residential blocks. Because this corridor was designated for carriageway widening, active travel cycle paths, and public realm improvements serving the new transport interchange and the River Suir Sustainable Transport Bridge, these roadside derelict structures and boundary walls were cleared and incorporated into the ongoing public infrastructure works.
MURAL ON DOCK ROAD BY ARCHES