THE NEW LIBRARY AND MUCH MORE
FRAMING THE LEXICON IN DUN LAOGHAIRE [THE BUILDING THAN MANY LOVE TO HATE]
Framing the LexIcon: The Brutalist Beacon of Dún Laoghaire
If you stand at the edge of Moran Park in Dún Laoghaire, looking out towards the Dublin Bay shoreline, your camera lens is bound to collide with a monumental structure of raw, fair-faced concrete and soaring glass.
This is the dlr LexIcon, the central library and cultural centre for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Opened in late 2014, this €36.6 million civic giant was designed by Carr Cotter & Naessens Architects. Architecturally, it is an absolute marvel for photographers—a playground of harsh angular lines, massive geometric cantilevers, and deep voids that catch the shifting Irish light beautifully.
Yet, long before the first book was shelved, the LexIcon was the centre of one of the most vitriolic public planning rows in modern Irish history.
Why the LexIcon Sparked Such Fierce Objections
When the plans were approved in 2009 and construction got underway during the height of the post-2008 economic crash, local anger boiled over. For many residents, the building was a flashpoint for several major grievances:
The Scale and the Skyline: Dún Laoghaire is famed for its Victorian seafront, characterised by low-rise terraced houses, the elegant Royal Marine Hotel, and the historic Mariner’s Church (now the National Maritime Museum). The LexIcon erupted directly between them. Critics slammed it as a "monstrosity" and a "brutalist bunker" that completely severed the traditional vistas from the town centre to the harbour.
Austerity and Cost: Building a €36.6 million municipal project at a time when the Irish economy was on its knees, public services were being gutted, and local businesses were closing down felt like a slap in the face to many. Protesters argued the money should have been spent on revitalising the empty shops on the high street or restoring the derelict Dún Laoghaire Baths.
The "Digital Age" Argument: Skeptics routinely asked why a bankrupt local authority was spending tens of millions on a massive physical storehouse for books when the world was pivoting to e-readers and digital media.
Moran Park Transformation: The construction altered Moran Park significantly, requiring the removal of its old, overgrown pond and bowling green area.
The backlash was so intense that some local political figures and public commentary campaigns actively called for the building to be demolished while it was still wrapped in scaffolding.
For a photographer, the building's exterior demands a wide-angle lens to capture how its granite-clad walls aggressively cut into the coastal sky. But it is the interior that completely flips the script on the building’s brutalist exterior.
Inside, the monumentality gives way to an incredibly warm, light-flooded sanctuary. The architects used a sparse palette of exposed, silky-smooth concrete paired with rich Irish oak. Huge, multi-storey windows frame the harbour, transforming the boats, the piers, and the changing weather into living, breathing backdrops for the reading rooms.
A Decade On: Has Public Opinion Changed?
Time is the ultimate healer of architectural friction, and the dlr LexIcon is a textbook case of a building winning over its harshest critics through sheer utility.
Today, public opinion has shifted dramatically. The initial anger has largely dissipated, replaced by a deep-seated community pride. The LexIcon successfully redefined what a public library could be. Rather than a quiet room for dusty books, it operates as a vibrant civic living room. On any given day, it is packed to the gills with students, remote workers using the free Wi-Fi, toddlers in the junior sections, and locals attending art exhibitions or theatre performances in its studio spaces.
Even the parkland surrounding it has been completely re-landscaped into a tiered, accessible urban plaza that links the town directly to the sea. The "monstrosity on the seafront" has simply become an indispensable part of Dún Laoghaire's cultural fabric. For photographers visiting Dublin, it is now an essential stop—not just for the dramatic architecture, but for the panoramic views of the pier from the top floor.
Framing the LexIcon: The Brutalist Beacon of Dún Laoghaire
If you stand at the edge of Moran Park in Dún Laoghaire, looking out towards the Dublin Bay shoreline, your camera lens is bound to collide with a monumental structure of raw, fair-faced concrete and soaring glass.
This is the dlr LexIcon, the central library and cultural centre for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Opened in late 2014, this €36.6 million civic giant was designed by Carr Cotter & Naessens Architects. Architecturally, it is an absolute marvel for photographers—a playground of harsh angular lines, massive geometric cantilevers, and deep voids that catch the shifting Irish light beautifully.
Yet, long before the first book was shelved, the LexIcon was the centre of one of the most vitriolic public planning rows in modern Irish history.
Why the LexIcon Sparked Such Fierce Objections
When the plans were approved in 2009 and construction got underway during the height of the post-2008 economic crash, local anger boiled over. For many residents, the building was a flashpoint for several major grievances:
The Scale and the Skyline: Dún Laoghaire is famed for its Victorian seafront, characterised by low-rise terraced houses, the elegant Royal Marine Hotel, and the historic Mariner’s Church (now the National Maritime Museum). The LexIcon erupted directly between them. Critics slammed it as a "monstrosity" and a "brutalist bunker" that completely severed the traditional vistas from the town centre to the harbour.
Austerity and Cost: Building a €36.6 million municipal project at a time when the Irish economy was on its knees, public services were being gutted, and local businesses were closing down felt like a slap in the face to many. Protesters argued the money should have been spent on revitalising the empty shops on the high street or restoring the derelict Dún Laoghaire Baths.
The "Digital Age" Argument: Skeptics routinely asked why a bankrupt local authority was spending tens of millions on a massive physical storehouse for books when the world was pivoting to e-readers and digital media.
Moran Park Transformation: The construction altered Moran Park significantly, requiring the removal of its old, overgrown pond and bowling green area.
The backlash was so intense that some local political figures and public commentary campaigns actively called for the building to be demolished while it was still wrapped in scaffolding.
For a photographer, the building's exterior demands a wide-angle lens to capture how its granite-clad walls aggressively cut into the coastal sky. But it is the interior that completely flips the script on the building’s brutalist exterior.
Inside, the monumentality gives way to an incredibly warm, light-flooded sanctuary. The architects used a sparse palette of exposed, silky-smooth concrete paired with rich Irish oak. Huge, multi-storey windows frame the harbour, transforming the boats, the piers, and the changing weather into living, breathing backdrops for the reading rooms.
A Decade On: Has Public Opinion Changed?
Time is the ultimate healer of architectural friction, and the dlr LexIcon is a textbook case of a building winning over its harshest critics through sheer utility.
Today, public opinion has shifted dramatically. The initial anger has largely dissipated, replaced by a deep-seated community pride. The LexIcon successfully redefined what a public library could be. Rather than a quiet room for dusty books, it operates as a vibrant civic living room. On any given day, it is packed to the gills with students, remote workers using the free Wi-Fi, toddlers in the junior sections, and locals attending art exhibitions or theatre performances in its studio spaces.
Even the parkland surrounding it has been completely re-landscaped into a tiered, accessible urban plaza that links the town directly to the sea. The "monstrosity on the seafront" has simply become an indispensable part of Dún Laoghaire's cultural fabric. For photographers visiting Dublin, it is now an essential stop—not just for the dramatic architecture, but for the panoramic views of the pier from the top floor.
THE LEXICON