"An Board Pleanála showing “a failure in both scientific and legal competence” – An Taisce"TheJournal.ie

"An taisce has accused An Board Pleanála of showing “a failure in both scientific and legal competence” in allowing Edenderry power station to keep burning peat until 2023.

The independent environmental charity says that the decision is acting “contrary to the national interest” and that, by their decision, An Bord Pleanála have “made a clear statement of its anti-climate policies”.

The  power station is owned by Bord na Móna and is An Taisce claim that the facility releases emissions of up to 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

Bord na Móna say that at present over 20 per cent of fuel burned at Edenderry is recycled biomass. The company have targeted that this will increase to 30 per cent by 2015 which would account for the burning of 300,000 tones of biomass fuels.

An Taisce however have further concerns and claim that the Environmental Impact Assessment on the direct and indirect effects of the project are deficient.

“In granting permission to continue peat-burning, the Board failed entirely to address the legal basis of the extraction source of the peat from surrounding bogs,” said An Taisce."

Society of Chartered Surveyors - cost calculator

http://www.scsi.ie/about_us/rebuildcalculator

Apple Campus 2

Photograph: City of Cupertino

"All hail the mothership: Norman Foster's $5bn Apple HQ revealed

Set in rolling fields, this shimmering spaceship promises to follow Apple's values of 'innovation, ease of use and beauty'. But is it a techno-utopia too far?"

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/15/norman-foster-apple-hq-mothership-spaceship-architecture

Saving Industrial era buildings - Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse

Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse, New York

In 1915, Brooklyn New York, the Austin, Nichols and Company building on the docklands was completed. Designed by american architect Cass Gilbert, (architect of the Woolworth building, New York 1913) it was utilised as a food and drinks manufacturing plant until the mid 1900's and subsequently as a warehouse. This building is a strong example of the precarious situations that historic buildings find themselves in, especially those whose merit is under appreciated or misunderstood and often written off as mere relics of a former age. Toward the end of the 1900's, movements were under-way to redevelop the site which included demolitions and drastic transformations. Luckily, many people recognized the importance of the building, both culturally, architecturally and historically, and undertook steps to have the building listed for protection. The pro-retention side eventually won out after years of lobbying and petitioning and in 2005, the former warehouse was designated as a protected and listed building.

Facade prior to restoration -  forgotten-ny.com

In recent years, SLCE Architects were employed on behalf of the warehouses owners to sympathetically restore and adapt the building for re-use. The restoration work included restoring of the entire facade, new waterfront pathways and promenade and streetscaping, interior green courtyards, roof-top beach, interior gardens and boardwalks as well as modern residential units. The scheme won the 2011 award for adaptive reuse (Brooklyn Awards)



Restored facade : Flickr user - JOSH

Internal courtyard - bevanddara.wordpress.com

2008 video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNGcR21x7xQ

http://saveindustrialbrooklyn.org/pdf/austin_nichols.pdf
http://www.slcearch.com/adaptive-reuse/184-kent-avenue/

Woodstock Visit

Woodstock House & Gardens.

Signage everywhere but for some reason, I never ventured toward the gardens when passing through the village of Inistioge. I thus didn't connect this place with the many grand country houses dotted around the country which were burned down at the height of the fight for Ireland's impending freedom and then left to rot. Many of the houses which were spectacles to behold prior to this and were utilised sometimes as show-pieces, and which employed hundreds of people in the locality, now stand as husks in overgrown estates. The grounds and boundaries of the estates also, unrecognisable, existing only in historic photographs and maps. Fortunately for Woodstock, the site has been partially rescued and is currently maintained albeit on a less grander scale by volunteers under the guidance of Kilkenny County Council. The once thriving and busy vegetable and fruit gardens and green houses are now confined to a few patches of vegetables maintained by a handful or workers. The grounds however are well maintained for what exists and a fine selection of original period ornamental trees still stand proud on the site. Even though the true splendour of the original gardens can only be viewed through black and white photographs, the scale and extent can nonetheless be appreciated just be strolling around the site. Unfortunately, the house itself is now in a serious state of decay and almost beyond rescuing having missed out or been overlooked for various economic reasons during the boom time when opportunities were possibly more plentiful. No matter what sentiment people have toward these estate houses, it cannot be denied that they represent an intangible connection to the islands history and to see what was probably a magnificent building in it's day now in such a sorry state is a tragic fact.
















1. www.askaboutireland.ie
2. www.jerpoint.com



































milton jones