COWS LANE TEMPLE BAR

The project consisted of the design of a group of apartments with retail units at ground floor level and the design of a new pedestrian route to be called Cows Lane. The site located in the Temple Bar area and adjacent to Christ Church is in a location of intense archaeological interest, forming the part of Dublin which relates to Viking settlements from the first millennium.

The entire development is constructed on a concrete platform, supported on thin piles thus causing minimum interference to the existing ground and the potential location of archaeological remnants.

The new street, Cows Lane, is positioned in the location of an ancient medieval roadway which linked Lord Edward Street and Christchurch with the river. It has a fall from south to north. The fall on Cows Lane is accommodated by a series of shallow platforms with interlinking ramps. The platforms are occasionally used for market stalls.

The apartments address Cows Lane to the West and an internal courtyard to the East. The façade treatment consists of a combination of brick and rendered plaster, suggesting a layering of materials and construction and reflecting the underlying layers of the archaeology.

Photographs copyright Kevin Dunne.