Architects: IDN Integral Design Network
2003
The Landmark Tower must provide a focal point and help shape the new identity of the local area and the greater city of Dublin. The tower will also be considered a "home" for U2. Therefore, the tower needs to be iconic, but also responsive. It must be able to develop its character from the city and the band, and still change over time. Furthermore, the character of the building should be expressive with an emotional quality but with a contemporary architectural statement. Our approach was to search for a statement that we believed most suits the client. We interpreted both stated objectives and how we our own vision could best be adapted to the client's goals.
It is important that this new structure be a bold, progressive architectural statement while not creating discord with its surrounding context. We have layered the scale of the tower to tie it to the site and surrounding structures. . The folding shapes of the "outer mesh" on the upper part of the tower and the main entrance canopy while distinct, also balance well with the environment from a wider perspective. The overall composition of the tower is designed to provide components that come together to create a blended whole but also have iindividual identities that reflect the mixed-use program as well as the surrounding site.
Our design for the tower is flayed or rippled such that it brings in the light, water, sky and city. It uses a screen or mesh wrap that is broken iinto angled sections to allow for diverse views in all directions for those in the tower. The mesh wrap through its material and configuration iis also designed to reflect and absorb light so that the building will seem to visually transform and dematerialize. This outer mesh wrap breaks the tower apart as it meets the sky. It undulates over the inner building, tied to it yet also free. It's a scrim that is a part of the tower's character as a "stage" for the city on one side and the ocean or what lies beyond the ocean on the other side.
On the human scale, the tower sits on a low platform that provides the public space for the club/bar. The main entrance of the club on the narrow end of the site has a large over-hanging roof canopy to allow for easy gathering and flow into the venue. It is a signature element which has its own identity within the greater context of the tower. The wide end of the building allows for an entrance to a basement level parking and a private entrance to the studio for the band.
A walkway amenity on the water side is provided by the overhanging part of the tower above the platform and below the mesh. The tower above the platform and below the mesh overhangs on the water side to provide a walkway amenity. On the city side, in contrast to the water side, the lower tower tucks in towards itself. in contrast to the water side. in contrast to the water side. However, there is another tower wrap that comes up between the street and the ground level to create a buffer and a walkway amenity. The lower tower façade on the water side is angled and slotted in a complimentary manner to the upper mesh wrap. This reflects are efforts to create layers of scales and bring the tower all the way down to the human scale without losing a broad visual statement. No matter how compelling a visual statement the tower makes, its ability to remain engaging over time will come from how responsive it is to meeting the needs of its mixed-use program.
