CHANCERY STREET NEW HOTEL

A NEW HAMPTON BY HILTON TO OPEN NEXT MONTH WHERE THE OLD MOTOR TAX OFFICE WAS LOCATED


Hilton Hotels have announced that they will be opening their latest Hampton Hotel in February 2020. The development will include a 249-bedroom hotel located at River House; Chancery Street situated directly behind The Four Courts.

My photographs were taken at the Luas Tram Stop on Chancery Street and my understanding is that there will be a new entrance here to the redeveloped Dublin City Fruit And Vegetable Wholesale Market via what was the Fish Market [has been demolished and is now a car park].

Some of the ugliest buildings in Dublin were owned or occupied by the Government and one really bad examples was the six-storey River House at Chancery Street which was vacant since the motor taxation service relocated. In 1987, the original building was the subject of an unusual legal dispute. Frank McDonald in his book ‘The Destruction of Dublin’ attributed the design of the building to John Thompson and Partners but they sued for damages on the grounds they had nothing to do with the design of River House.

The site was sold for €8 million in 2017. At the time it was indicated that the plan was to build a 249 room hotel but recently I read in a local newspaper that it would be an office complex to service the needs of legal firms moving to Dublin because of Brexit it would appear that their sources were not good.

OLD MOTOR TAX OFFICE RIVER HOUSE ON CHANCERY STREET IN SMITHFIELD

A really, really ugly structure.


The Irish State occupied some of the most horrible buildings in Dublin and many of them still remain as unoccupied eyesores.

There was a serious fire in this building at the end of October 2014 and at the time there was concern about possible loss of life because the building was occupied by people sleeping rough. Fortunately no one suffered any physical injury as a result of the fire.

The six-storey River House at Chancery Street has been owned for the past 15 years by developers Joe and Patrick Linders who recently renewed a planning permission to redevelop the complex and double its capacity. My understanding is that the Linders have sold the block earlier this year and it is rumoured that the new owner plans to sell it on to be redeveloped as high quality office space that should be of interest to UK legal firms planning to relocate to Dublin as a result of Brexit.

In 1987, the building was the subject of an unusual legal dispute. Frank McDonald in his book ‘The Destruction of Dublin’ attributed the design of the building to John Thompson and Partners but they sued for damages on the grounds they had nothing to do with the design of River House.

I am not comfortable with the current direction of street art here in Dublin. It is nice to know that street artists may now have a revenue stream but in a way they have compromised their art.

Over the years the authorities have battled to control what was originally known as graffiti and spent a lot of money in doing so. They were losing the battle until they discovered that could control the activities of street artists through sponsorship and competitions and by doing so they created an opportunity for commercial organisations to take over. To be fair there have been worthwhile programmes such as Dublin City Council’s “Dublin Canvas” paint-a-box programme but I have noticed that some boxes around Dublin are now used as platforms for commercial activities.

Within the last four of five years street art in Dublin has been commandeered by the corporate interests of marketing organisations and their clients and little by little the urban canvas or public space that was available to urban artists has been privatised and monetised.

If you want an example of what I am referring to consider my photograph and the background story.

If you use a certain brand of butter it can be spread straight from the fridge saving you 60 seconds and then you can use that minute to do something really interesting or worthwhile with your life. For example you create the hashtag #MakeaMinute which is exactly what a media company did. The media company then organised what appeared to be spontaneous street art installations around the city and then encouraged social conversations which used many minutes that could have been better used unless you are selling butter. At some stage, I am not sure when, the company logo was added to the street art and the butter company’s involvement was revealed.