12/11/2024
An article I did for a project in Bolton St (when I was studying auctioneering) on Dublin Bus Donnybrook Garage in Dublin 4 a property which I am very familiar with. I worked there during my 4 year apprenticeship as a mechanic with CIE my late father was also a bus driver there for over 24 years up to his death in 1984.
Donnybrook which is situated on the Southside of the city is a middle class suburb consisting primarily of privately owned residential housing it was once part of the Pembroke Township.
Donnybrook Bus Garage occupies a strategic location on a gateway point into the city centre on the junction of the Stillorgan Motor Way and Beaver Row. It is a most distinctive building which was completed in 1952 built in a sturdy style of the 1950s with an emphasis on economic, social and cultural indicators for its time.
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Ariel photo (c.1930s) of the proposed site of the New Donnybrook Bus Garage.
The old tram depot is clearly seen in the photo.📷
Design
Firstly, one should observe a change in certain modifications in building technique and methods for example the use of concrete moulds to give the bus garage it’s distinctive roof.
The main construction consists of a concrete frame shell construction, with pre-cast concrete pillars portal frame construction with pre-cast concrete and brick in fills which rise from the foundation, and a large amount of side windows thus producing clean modern lines for the times.
Overall, Donnybrook Garage is an imposing grey building, it is day it would have been viewed as ugly and to modern for its time, however, over the passing of time it has become an icon of the changing face of Ireland pre the Lemass 1960s Irish industrial revolution.
The building in my view seems to be burdened or be it weighed down by the enormous weight of the massive wide span concrete roof.
Even though the shape of the roof line dominates the side view of the building your attention is drawn to the low continuous line of fenestration pattern windows with plan glass.
Which gives a feel of order, but be it somewhat of a regimental order in my view. Also in my view a common brick facade with stucco plaster finish and the use of quoins on the corners would have provided a more welcoming external texture.
However, the most interesting thing about Donnybrook bus garage which was unusual for its time was for such a large internal clear span to have no columns or other vertical supports.
Access to the garage for the buses is via 3 full-height fold back shutter doors. Heating is provided by means of an industrial gas-fired blow heaters. Three phase and single phase power points were installed throughout the premises.
To the rear of the garage there is an adjoining flat roofed two storey office accommodation, with canteen, rest room and locker room. Also housed in this extension to the side rear elevation of the property are toilets both for staff and the general public. There is a Portico entrance porch to the main office.
In later years the offices to the front of the garage where knocked and part of the adjoining yard sold for the widening of the Stillorgan motor way.
Shortly after the garage was opened in 1955 it was used to hold an international boxing match between Derry man Billy Kelly and Ray Famechon of France, with the Irish man suffering defeat.
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Unlike a Gambrels Barn or Dutch Colonial design the roof shape was more Arched.
Externally the building’s elevations are dictated by the roof form which is visible along both sides of the bus garage. Smaller flat roofed buildings were built next to it but do not intrude on the distinctive shape of the building.
The faith that Scott showed in the ability of Arup, in allowing him to dictate the external appearance of the building through its engineering was to be repeated at Busáras.
The expensive formwork produced exciting results at Donnybrook. The garage accommodates ten bays of parking for up to 60 buses, and it requires a clear span (with no columns or other vertical supports) to achieve this.
Originally it was the first of a series of eight proposed garages to be built to the same design around the country. It was the first building in the world to have a concrete shell roof lit by natural light from one end to the other. Each shell was poured in situ with large wooden moulds that were dismantled and moved on to form the next one. This form was suggested by Arup as a suitable approach to the design.
The other seven garages were never built due to the changed economic circumstances which had implications for the delivery of the construction of the other Bus garages and the concrete moulds were destroyed after the completion of Donnybrook due to Government politics of the day.
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Close up of one of the shells of the concrete roof lit by natural light.
The roof structure is a modular shell construction, innovative in having glazing incorporated end-to-end to top light the space, and the bay span is 33.5 by 12.2 metres, with the shell thickness ranging from 75 to 100 mm.
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Decorative Side Elevations
The elaborate arcing band pattern on the ends of each vault were composed by Patrick Scott, who is best known for his work as an artist but was also an architect earlier. Scott worked for Michael Scott (no relation) for 15 years, and he was responsible for these compositions, contrasting the smooth plaster of the lines against the rough plaster in between.
Originally it was coloured externally in a grey and yellow paint scheme designed by Patrick Scott, which has since been painted over.
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Photo showing impressive well maintained modern fleet of Volvo B9TL chassis with Eclipse Gemini bodywork
Internally the garage is an imposing well-lit internal space uninterrupted by columns or internal walls. The garage has 10 bays which allows for parking for up to 60 buses along with a wash bay.
Donnybrook Bus Garage was built along- side the old tram depot which was originally built on a quarry.
Today the old tram depot is used as the main workshop with up to 20 well serviced pits.
The photo below shows inside the workshop.
The main door to the front of the workshop fronting on to Beaver Row is held under a protection order. The main garage with its established identities and distinct heritage and character is also held under a protection order.
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Photo showing two Volvo B9TLs buses over the pits in the former tram depot, this well lit workshop with plenty of side windows and glass panels in the asbestos apex roof with light weight space frame trusses.
Donnybrook Bus Garage and it’s Social Environment
It’s not surprising that architects yearn to create boundary pushing buildings that over time builders and indeed investors would feel confident that the experimentation creation would provide a social and economic return on the its initial investment.
Donnybrook garage is one such case, in its day it would have been viewed as ugly and too modern for its time, however, over the passing of time it has become an icon of the changing face of Ireland. Scott’s idealistic views and aim to make architecture more accessible to the man in the street paid off.
One may feel that such idealistic architecture is wasted on the staff that worked there, however this is not the case and indeed I was quite surprised when I worked there at the level of knowledge that the everyday staff members showed in their working environment.
It serviced the area well providing a good network of public transport and indeed much needed local employment. Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) have since its creation in the mid 1940s always showed a concern for its workers and their families, with its excellent medical benefits similar to the Guinness group and has over the years employed generations from the same family. CIE has also in the past supplied housing for its workers with housing in the Inchicore area in a similar fashion as the “The Beaver Hat” factory operated by Wright Brothers who built the cottages, a Methodist Church, a school, a hall and a wooden bridge over the river Dodder for their employees in the early 1,800s on the adjoining Beaver Row. Beaver Row is named after The Beaver Hat factory.
Donnybrook Bus Garage is located in an ideal location on one of the main roads leading to the city centre. An excellent location to service many local south Dublin routes.
It is indeed a good example of a commercial premises blending into a residential area. This most distinctive building which has occupied the Dublin 4 site since 1952 has stood the test of time with little or no major refurbishment work carried out on this sturdy constructed commercial property over the passing years.
Today Donnybrook Bus Garage has become a well know landmark and hopefully will remain so for many years to come.
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Photo showing an Ariel view of Donnybrook Garage. The former tram depot in the background and the distinctive roof of the main garage to the front.
Critical Review
However, in my view I feel that the garage was still quite dark and grey it was never use as a workshop just used mainly for parking. The over- all construction was boring in grey massive concrete.
I felt that it did not blend in with the original red brick workshop on the site which was the former tram depot.
Maybe at the time the excessive cost of engaging Michael Scott to design and build the garage would have being better spent. In my view A.P. Reynolds chairman of CIE at the time was leaving his mark for future generations as Reynolds was supposedly a moderniser. His tendencies were more towards modernising buildings than improving CIE’s rolling stock or investing in other sites for CIE to operate from at the time.
But the main garage with its established identities and distinct heritage and character still represents an excellent constructed building a part of our modern culture. It still echoes fund memories as a child in the 1970s going with my father as he drove the bus, sitting upstairs on a hot summer Sunday afternoon as he had to work and I would go along for the ride on the 44 out to Enniskerry. It is assuring to know that this property, which has so many memories for me, is protected by a government protection order.
Appendix – Michael Scott
Michael Scott (1905-1988) is considered the most important architect of the twentieth century in Ireland. Apart from Donnybrook Bus Garage, his most important buildings include his own home Geragh at Sandycove and Busáras.
In the 1940s Scott became involved with Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) which came into being through a series of transport amalgamations as the independent bus companies and the railway companies had joined forces. The new head of CIE was an accountant, A.P. Reynolds. Reynolds was friends with Sean Lemass who was the Minister of Industry and Commerce in 1945.
Scott had always made a point of cultivating those in power for commissions. He became very friendly with Sean Lemass who would later be Taoiseach between 1959 and 1966 and Scott’s influence over the arts and architecture would be at its height at that time.
In later years this close relationship of Lemass lead to Scott getting control of any CIE commissions that were going, along with being appointed Consultant Architect to CIE by Reynolds.
Scott’s role as consultant architect with CIE meant that he passed all final drawings and designs for the various projects.
The first of these was the Inchicore Chassis Works designed for the production of bus and lorry parts.
After the war, Scott architecture began to show more external decoration, as at Donnybrook Bus Garage with its sculptural concrete shape and decoration.
It was a much more radical building than Inchicore and was designed in close collaboration between Michael Scott and Danish engineer Ove Arup (1895-1988) whom Michael Scott persuaded to set up offices in Dublin (the first overseas Arup office).
Scott had gone to England to find a good experienced engineer as he felt that engineering in Ireland was not up to European standards of that time.
Arup at this time was quite successful and well known after his work on projects including the Penguin Pool and other enclosures at London Zoo (1934-1937). His practice had become known for its fresh approach to difficult structural problems and Arup himself was known for his new ideas on concrete construction.
The construction of Donnybrook Garage was carried out by some of Scott’s staff in association with another architect Jim Brennan who in some journals is credited with the building although Scott’s firm is usually listed.
Originally it was the first of a series of eight proposed garages for one hundred buses to be built to the same design around the country. It was the first building in the world to have a concrete shell roof lit by natural light from one end to the other. Each shell was poured in situ with large wooden moulds that were dismantled and moved on to form the next one. This form was suggested by Arup as a suitable approach to the design.
The other seven garages were never executed due to the changed economic circumstances which had implications for the delivery of the construction of the other Bus garages and the concrete moulds were destroyed after the completion of Donnybrook due to Government politics and the advice of a senior civil servant Dan O’Donovan.
A great deal of politics was played out behind the scenes, O’Donovan was a man of very strong personal convictions on building and was later to be appointed to oversee the building of Busáras, to the despair of Scott.
The controversy and politics that beset these two buildings were to pale into insignificance beside the troubles that surrounded Scott’s third CIE commission. This building was the first large modern building to be built in the city of Dublin and the first major public building to be built in Europe after the Second World War. It was also to bring him acclaim and attention from the public – this was the Dublin Central Bus Station, to be known as Busáras.
It’s a great pity, because Scott’s three projects for CIE in the late 1940s were wonderful Donnybrook Garage, the chassis factory at Inchicore and the central bus station, Busaras.
