Architects: Magill Architects
2003
The U2 tower is an opportunity to develop a Landmark building, which has a true affinity with and meaning for the people of Ireland. This design is intended to create a symbol, which can be identified worldwide instantly, not for its stylistic unconventional shape but for its meaning within the Irish Society.
My intention is to design a landmark building which reflects the context in which the Irish people have lived. A design generator inspired by past, present and future generations of Ireland, this generator has formed the basis of my research and concluding design. This research focused on the natural raw landscape of Ireland and the power it held on the viewer. Within this natural setting lay monuments natural and man made which created visual landmarks across the country.
The ten thousand man made monuments which litter the landscape create markers across Ireland. Ranging in size from less than one metre to more than seven metres. Standing Stones are a symbol of Irelands History and power within their local settings.
My vision is to use the form of a DOLMEN as an architectural generator, expressing a symbol of local Ireland into a modern icon of Ireland in its capital. A dolmen was a symbol of a community's prowess at that time. For its time it was technically advanced and beautiful.
The design consists of four elements. Two vertical standing stones containing offices and luxury apartments. The capping stone contains U2's studio and the fallen stone of the base contains the bar and restaurant facilities.
The façade is facetted reflected the form of the textured stones used in existing Dolmens. The east elevation that is overlooking the Irish Sea is facetted in green glass. The façade facing Dublin is seen as a solid rock of ganite from the elevation. Within this elevation veins of glass are inserted reflecting the stone of the original Dolmens.
This design is intended to inspire the Irish people and not create building based on a fleeting style or architectural trend. A technologically advanced design reflecting Irelands past, and expressing its vision for the future.