€130k light sculpture for Central Bank
The Central Bank has spent €130,000 on a light sculpture for its new €140m headquarters on Dublin’s North Wall Quay, writes .
Artist Niamh Barry has designed the functional art piece which is located in the reception area of the new premises and is available for all visitors to the Central Bank to view.
The Central Bank is in a procurement process for a separate art work for the north-east corner of the North Wall Quay site. A spokeswoman for the Central Bank said that the cost of the light fitting is “in the region of €130,000, excluding Vat.”
“This is an estimated cost as the bill of works from the main contractor was not itemised as the contractor was engaged on a total price contract,” she said.
The Central Bank pointed out that there is a requirement with all large public infrastructure projects to include an artistic work of value in the respective schemes.
A graduate of NCAD, Ms Barry sculpts with light and metal and has exhibited her work widely in New York, San Francisco, Mexico, Switzerland, London and Dublin. She also recently published a book showcasing her work.
The latest figures from the Central Bank detailing the spend on its headquarters, show that €127m was spent on the project up to the end of March this year.
The detailed breakdown shows that €2.26m was spent on “meeting room furniture and loose furniture” while €2,000 was spent on the transport of the ‘Dublin Landings Building Model’ along with €108,000 being paid to foodservice design consultants Tricon for “catering design services”.
An additional €46,000 was spent on the transfer of contents of buildings while another €5,000 was spent on bicycle racks. The main contractor, Walls Construction was paid €71m while the security spend prior to Walls beginning work was €302,000 and paid to Netwatch.
Architectural firm, HJ Lyons has been paid €4m.
In addition to Ms Barry’s piece and the planned art work, the Central Bank bought one piece of art entitled ‘Contemporary Ruin’ by Brian Maguire.
That piece depicts the North Wall Quay site where the unfinished Anglo Irish Bank headquarters was located before construction work started on the Central Bank project. The painting was purchased for €995.
The Central Bank completed the sale of its former premises, on Dublin’s Dame St, at the beginning of this year.
Its new owners, real estate investors Hines Ireland and the Peterson Group said that in August that it plans to redevelop the building into a mixed-use premises housing offices, a cafe and a 300-seat restaurant.
The new owners will also enhance the existing plaza surrounding the building.
