The nurses' home at St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, one of the city's less-loved landmarks, is to be blown up next year as part of a £50 million redevelopment scheme.
Mr Eoin O Morain of architects Scott Tallon Walker, who are designing the scheme, said it was "possibly the ugliest building in Dublin and certainly among the top 10 eyesores". The 13-storey building, dating from the late 1960s, occupies a prominent position at the junction of Merrion Road and Nutley Lane and is no longer required for its original use. It is now almost empty as a result of changes in nursing education.
Mr O Morain said the building was in very poor condition. Consideration had been given to renovating it but this was ruled out because it would have cost £5 million. It was also in the way of a major extension of the hospital.
Accordingly, a decision was taken to demolish it by "implosion". Around 200 separate charges will be placed in the structure by a firm of specialist contractors, Controlled Demolition International, probably during the Easter holiday weekend next year.
Mr O Morain said the demolition - which would be the first to be done with the aid of gelignite since the Nelson Pillar was blown up in 1966 - presented no danger to the remaining hospital buildings or to nearby houses because the building would be imploded on its own site.
An Bord Pleanala has just sanctioned the St Vincent's development scheme, which will be "revolutionary in terms of healthcare", according to Mr O Morain, because it will provide a "one-stop-shop" where most patients will be dealt with on a daycare basis.
The intention is that most patients will no longer have to travel to the hospital on several occasions to be seen by specialists or have X-rays and other tests done. Based on a North American model, all of these procedures should be telescoped into a single day.
Following discussions with the Dublin Transportation Office, car-parking on the hospital site is being rationalised. A 500-space multi-level car-park is to be erected on the site of the nurses' home, but Mr O Morain said it would be landscaped to reduce its visual impact.
The hospital administration has also committed itself to drawing up a commuter plan, under which its own employees will be encouraged to use public transport rather than their cars. This might include a shuttle bus to the DART station at Sydney Parade.
The Government has indicated that it will fund the St Vincent's redevelopment but no money has been allocated so far. Most of the current capital funding is being invested in the regional hospital in Tullamore, Co Offaly, and the Mater Hospital in north Dublin.
