Curves in all the right places

IT is a case of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ on Cork city’s Georges Quay.

Inshore fisherman Paddy O’Flynn, who maintained a fleet of ancient wood boats on the quayside here and at Frenches Quay for decades, died earlier this year aged 80. His three remaining boats have slid into a state of collapse along the quay wall since his demise.

Across the road from where he pottered about, there’s a new addition to the city’s skyline: Trinity Court has roofs that curve, bend, intersect, soar and plummet. In other words, the city planners’ insistence on a building with visual interest was a builders’ nightmare. The scheme of 61 apartments on Georges Quay is, after well over a year on site, in the final flurry of construction, with over 120 workers tidying up as the last 16 units are released for sale.

Given the surge of apartments hitting the city’s market in the coming months and a rental slowdown, Trinity Court’s selling points are location, river aspect, communal landscaped courtyard gardens and basement parking, say Jackie Cohalan and Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing & Associates.

Given a strong terracotta colour on its quay facade, the five-story over-basement building picks up curved bay and bowed facades of the fine old Georgian buildings on George’s Quay. The only regret is the bleakness of the 1970s adjoining Abbeycourt House, second only in the ugliness stakes to Government Buildings further upriver at Sullivan’s Quay.

So, Trinity Court definitely gets marks for not being boring or bland, for variety and quality in the elevations and in the materials used. In had not one but two firms of architects involved: the initial drawings for the site were by CLG Architects, and when developers Flemings bought the site they amended it with Coughlan de Keyser Associates.

Finishing materials outside include 1” thick cedar used liberally, bands of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, painted render, and a roof membrane called Sarna to mimic zinc roofing. Internally, the apartments have some of the highest finishes seen to date in Cork city units: bathrooms with free standing bowl sinks, powered showers and baths in most units (the penthouse has a Jacuzzi bath) kitchens with granite worktops and solid cherry units, maple flooring and wool carpets, expensive tiling and, unusually, full-height doors (c 8’ high, in cherry and walnut veneer) which really open up the sense of space.

The 16 apartments left to sell range from a one-bed of 449 sq ft at €275,000 through two-beds of 550 to 745 sq ft and priced from €288,000 to €333,000, while a 1,450 sq ft three-bed penthouse with full-on, top floor balcony views of Holy Trinity is priced at €650,000, and includes two parking spaces. Otherwise, buyers will have to pay €35,000 per parking space. A boat space on the quay might be a cheaper option, and keep a sense of history.