Central Bank gets planning for €300k sculpture

The Central Bank has secured planning permission for a “monumental” €300,000 outdoor sculpture for a public space outside its €140m Dublin HQ.

Last year, Dublin-born artist Eva Rothschild secured a commission for her Double Rainbow piece outside the Central Bank campus on Dublin’s North Wall Quay.

Architects of the Central Bank, Henry J Lyons, told Dublin City Council that Ms Rothschild’s work is the “creation of a outdoor sculpture on a truly monumental scale, in a permanent location where a really strong and lasting engagement with the public is possible”.

The sculpture takes the form of a multi-directional arch rising to 10.5m and swooping over the centre of the plaza, spanning a distance of 14m before touching down lightly on the ground at eight different points.

Ms Rothschild’s work has already featured at Tate Britain; the Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis; and Central Park, New York City.

Henry J Lyons said the plaza space to the north of the Central Bank building “is a threshold location with people constantly passing through”.

The proposed site for the sculpture is located on the east-west pedestrian route between New Wapping St and Castleforbes Rd to the north-east of the Central Bank building.

The council granted planning permission after its own public art officer, Ruairí Ó Cuív said he believed “the sculpture will greatly enhance the public realm in the area”.

The council planner in the case found that the siting of the sculpture “will provide a focal point and add to the visual attractiveness at the location”.

The Central Park has published a note that it has awarded a €300,000 contract to Ms Rothschild’s London-based Peacegarden Ltd for the sculpture.

A spokesman for the Central Bank said the €300,000 figure is an estimated cost as there will be sterling and euro elements and that the actual cost is not definite.

He said the project is still at design stage and no construction work has yet commenced but it is expected the sculpture will be in situ in 2020.

He said that, in line with planning requirements for the building, the Central Bank agreed with Dublin City Council to commission an artwork for the public space directly outside the campus on North Wall Quay.