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(EMAILWIRE.COM, January 09, 2009 ) Dublin, Ireland - When the Millennium Dome in LondonÂ’s Greenwich first opened it was an architectural white elephant - a space so vast that it baffled those charged with filling it. Today, its sister project, the 02 Dublin, opens in the Irish capitalÂ…
London’s Dome stumbled from one disaster to the next, never able to find its niche – until 2005, that is, when it was reborn as the O2 arena, designed by HOK Sport, the American specialist Architectural firm also responsible for the Emirates Stadium.
Today, the ‘02 Dublin’ opens and its owners, telecommunications giant O2, are hoping that it will become an internationally recognised commercial property for all the right reasons.
In a former life, the O2 Dublin was a former train shed, built in the 1880Â’s and converted into a theatre one hundred years later.
Engineering consultancy Buro Happold and HOK Sport have refurbished the theatre and upped the number of seats from 8,500 to 14,300, in an attempt to make it a centrepiece of DublinÂ’s entertainment scene.
The new venue extends two storeys upwards above the original building with its translucent polycarbonate cladding.
While the London O2 arena was an original design by Richard Rogers, the O2 in Dublin is an £71 million state-of-the-art renovation of the city’s historic Point Theatre.
Buro Hapold Structural Engineer Alice Brook said, “All but the existing kelp stone perimeter wall was demolished, allowing us to virtually double capacity as well as greatly enhancing both front and back of house facilities, which include a 50 tonne rigging capacity and a VIP and sponsors' lounge.
“The sightlines are excellent, achieved with the aid of complex geometry modelling by HOK Sport to provide a unique, amphitheatre-style, column-free auditorium despite a roof span of over 50 metres.
“Truck access to the backstage areas is also facilitated by a column-free zone,” added Ms Brook.
The new structure comprises a steel frame and concrete and steel deck floor slabs. The auditorium is flexible, able to alternate between concert and theatre modes with adaptable seating configurations.
John Barrow, Senior Principal at HOK Sport, said, “The architectural design is a response to the unique characteristics of the remarkable heritage building, the context of the new development and the unique opportunities and constraints of the site generally.
“The refurbishment and reuse of the historic warehouse as a public entertainment venue will have a considerable social impact on Dublin and we are confident that the O2 Dublin will become a world class venue,” added Mr Barrow.
The new auditoriumÂ’s retractable seating and screens offer the flexibility to host both very large and very small and the stage can be made bigger or smaller to accommodate a wide variety of stage and sport events. The stage itself features very wide wings to accommodate a wide variety of stage and sports events.
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-ENDS-
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