A Temple Bar thing that crossed the road

Sky Lab in Dublin is a delight from all angles. It glows at the end ofa narrow grimy street, writes Emma Cullinan.

A striking new inner-city building has embraced the best of urban living by speaking to its neighbours and aiming to be part of the community.

Architect Ross Cahill-O'Brien took inspiration from elements in surrounding classical and contemporary buildings and subtly incorporated them into these new offices on Exchange Street.

Also in the mix is a 19th century Paris-style zinc roof plus design elements that are reminiscent of Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck's Mother's Home in Amsterdam. Add in some contemporary glass and steel structures and you have a building which could be a discordant jumble.

Yet the result is a serene composition that scoops its constituent parts into an assured whole. Sky Lab, so named because the roof reminded client Jay Bourke of Thunderbirds, sits near the end of Exchange Street where it meets Dame Street, an area of Dublin whose impressive architecture includes City Hall and the Wooden Building by de Blacam and Meagher.

Nearby classical buildings have stone relief around the windows, and in response Sky Lab uses channels around its openings. Classicism is also expressed in the symmetrical placement of the windows. On parts of the ground floor, Sky Lab draws from the design of the mesh timber gate of the Wooden Building opposite.

Cahill-O'Brien's building sits between two redbrick structures and relates to them by glowing with a quieter shade of pink, through the use of sandstone. Not native to these parts, and more associated with Glasgow, this Scottish stone works well here.

The profit margin is often the primary aim for developers and many office blocks tend to try and maximise the floor area on the site by pushing the building envelope right to the site edge on all floors. Yet here the footplate retreats gently on plan and in section, contributing towards the creation of an interesting composition.

In art and music, pauses can be as important as the main activity: the quiet parts relieve the noisy bits. Here the building has given its neighbours breathing space on the upper floors where the Sky Lab is recessed from the street line. Ross argues that what he's taken away with one hand he's given with the other. The retreats on the upper floors have allowed room for glass drums which act as bay windows. But there could have been even more floor space and credit must go to the clients (Jay Bourke, Eoin Foyle and Jan Kohler) who, as Ross puts it, "let me get on with it".

Sky Lab steps inwards along the skewed street, while curved glass bay windows and semi-circular balconies take the building in waves along the slanting road. At roof level two glass and zinc waves curve upwards reaching towards the sky and, either side of these, glass fingers point heavenwards too, jutting out of the glazed drums beneath them.

There's no sombre architectural explanation for these, it's one of the building's "bits of looniness for its own sake, which should be allowed", says Ross.

Another fun element is the lozenge-shaped viewing deck, known in the architect's office as the tongue platform. The name presumably refers to its shape rather than the fact that it's perceived as a smoking gallery for gasping office workers.

There's a frisson of excitement to be had from standing out on this slip of stainless steel high above the street. This thrill factor was an element in Aldo van Eyck's Amsterdam Mother's Home, where slim high walkways, that provided a safe place to experience danger, kept the resident children happy.

Another factor that Ross likes about the van Eyck building is that it displays the life that goes on inside. You can watch people walking around within, while those inside can see the action on the street.

Ross wants this to happen with the Sky Lab so that it can become part of urban life. People inside can look down from the top of the double-height glass drum, or the balconies and roof terraces, while those on the street have their eyes drawn up to action on and within the building, where occupants can be seen ascending and descending spiral stairs in the glass drums.

The stairs aren't there yet and the building's busy facade hides a stark, yet to be fitted out interior. This building was initially intended to be another Temple Bar bar but, arguably, the area doesn't need any more of those so planning wasn't forthcoming. Then planning was sought for residential use but neighbours objected, so now it is designed to accommodate offices. The interior decoration is to be decided by whoever moves in, with Cahill-O'Brien on hand to advise them if wished. So this flexi-space can be turned into shops, offices or even, should permission arise, apartments.

Residents to the rear of the building were worried that the new structure would cut their light. Ross has addressed this with a white back wall, lots of glass and the sun-reflecting zinc roof.

Because of these sparkling elements, coupled with the warm sandstone and flowing balconies, the building is a delight from all angles. It glows at the end of the narrow grimy street opposite while across the road in Dame Street the light catches the rippling effect of the curved glass and zinc.

This building is of its time and place - right down to the fact that the stainless steel work and glazing were carried out by local firms. It has incorporated influences from the past but carries no hint of pastiche.

Aldo Van Eyck saw the importance of the past in creating the future. "This is not a question of travelling back, but merely being aware of what exists in the present - what has travelled into it; the projection of the past into the future via the created present."