Central Bank

Ireland's best-known and most controversial architect, Sam Stephenson, has died suddenly following a heart operation at St James's Hospital in Dublin. He was 72. Stephenson studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology and in England, France and Switzerland. His most famous (or infamous) buildings include the Central Bank of Ireland (1975), Dublin Corporation Offices at Wood Quay (Phase I 1976) and the ESB Headquarters in Fitzwilliam Street (1975). All of these buildings attracted controversy.

"Sam, while sometimes controversial, was arguably Ireland's leading architect. He had a very colourful career and he leaves a visible and discernible legacy behind, which consists of some of Dublin's landmark buildings, including the Central Bank of Ireland, the Dublin City Council Offices (Phase 1) at Wood Quay and the ESB Headquarters in Fitzwilliam Street." said John O'Donoghue, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, on the news of Stephenson's death.

The Central Bank of Ireland, although structurally a ground breaking design was criticised for its height in the midst of the old city and its blatant disregard for the planning authorities. The building is now regarded as one of the better buildings from Stephenson, and Irish architecture of this time. The buildings at Wood Quay were never completed as designed due to the public outcry about the viking city found buried on the site and Dublin Corporation's loss of nerve. The site was later completed with a building designed by Ronnie Tallon of Scott Tallon Walker.

Bord Na Mona

The ESB Headquarters entailed the destruction of the longest complete Georgian streetscape in Europe with 11 complete house being demolished creating a huge break in the flow of Fitzwilliam Street / Square and Merrion Square. He received the RIAI Gold Medal in 1985 for the design of the Currency Centre, in Sandyford, Co Dublin. Other prominent commissions included the former Bord Na Mona building which was featured on a stamp commemorating Irish architecture.

He was one of the most colourful figures in the architectural profession, his long-time partner in practice, Arthur Gibney, died last May. For many years, their firm, Stephenson Gibney and Associates, dominated the architectural scene in Ireland, receiving the prize commissions of the 1970s.