Gate Multiplex, Cork
- Architect:
Derek Tynan Architects - Award Type:
Regional Award 1999 - Location: Munster
Citation
Southern - Over £1,000,000
The project originated in a design-led developer competition organised by Cork Corporation, following the prearation of an overall urban plan for the North Main Street area. In responding to a brief of unusual density on a historically important site, the architects have demonstrated considerable skill and ingenuity in articulating the programme in a number of easily understood parts: the tower and street-wall forming the gateway to North Main Stree; the stone clad cinema entrance, cut open to reveal the dramatic foyer and cascading stairs; and the cubic forms of the rooftop apartments. The cinemas, by their nature incapable of any interaction with street life, are buried deep within the building, acting as a scaffold to the other elements. Externally, the treatment of the facades is characterised by a taut and elegant minimalism that underlines the cool clarity of the ensemble.
Architects' Description
The response to the site and the configuration of the elements of the brief are based upon:
- the historic resonance of the site and its role as the gateway to the historic city
- the visibility of the site on a critical bend of the river and its potential in the general urban context of the bridge and the Shannon route
- the need to address two contexts and scales - individual buildings on Main Street and the more robust context and scale of the river
- the specific configuration of the site, and in particular the footprint of Phillip's Lane
- the necessity to main tain and develop pedestrian and street level activity by the location of appropriately scaled uses and activities
- the potential to positively engage the river by creating an incidental space as part of the complex of spaces at Northgate Bridge and Farren's Quay.
Client's Comment
A cinema complex usually consists of a large box with no windows on three sides. In the Gate, this has been cleverly concealed by retail and residential units, and an attractive exterior. The complex has proven easy to run due to a close working relationship between client and architect.