Independent architectural think tank ResPublica has suggested that Dublin's Central Bank on Dame Street could become a new central library, once the bank relocates to the North Wall Quay by mid-2015.
The UK-based group recently organised a brainstorming session in Dublin to discuss possible uses for the landmark building designed by the late Dublin architect Sam Stephenson.
Although some of the less serious suggestions included a jail for rogue bankers and a 24-hour supermarket, usage as a home for the central library was the most popular idea. The suggestion is potentially viable, after plans fell through to relocate the central library from its base on Henry St to the former Ambassador cinema at the top of O'Connell Street.
A representative from ResPublica also suggested the removal of the building's neo-baroque railings, as they impede people from sitting on the steps of one of the capital's few south-facing plazas.
In May the Central Bank bought its new site on the quays for a reported €7 million from the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), the state body set up in 2009 to deal with Ireland's financial and property crisis.
The half-finished shell of an office block was to have been the headquarters of the Anglo Irish Bank before it crashed spectacularly in 2009. The building's city-centre location as well as its bulk made it a desirable new base for the Central Bank, whose employees currently operate out of three separate Dublin addresses: Dame St, Adelaide Road and Spencer Dock.
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