RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Dublin - Over £200,000

The Custom House was built between 1781 and 1791 to the designs of the architect James Gandon. Following the intense fire of 1921 the only surviving elements of the original building are the external walls, excluding the dome, and parts of the North and South Halls.

Following a fall of stone in 1978, an examination of the stonework revealed that the combined agencies of fire and aggressive environment, corrosion of ferrous metal, and specific elements of the original design and construction had engendered a potentially dangerous situation.

Initial works consisted of making the structure safe whilst a photogrammetric survey was undertaken. The subsequent major works, guided by the precepts of the Venice Charter, included major structural repairs, notably to the cornice, removal of corroded ferrous metal, conservation and repair of the statuary and repairs and cleaning of the stonework.

These works were completed in 1991 at a cost of £5 million.