File:Does the Aviva stadium overwhelm the adjacent streets? (4445665865).jpg

Over the last few months the new stadium at Lansdowne has become a very obvious feature in the skyline of south Dublin. It is clearly visible from the end of Dun Laoghaire piers. The new stadium is set in a low rise area of the city (not that any part of the city could be described as high rise). However, it was claimed that it would not overwhelm or impact negatively on the surrounding residential streets. In fact, the adjacent houses and the existing Lansdowne Road site dictated the design from the beginning. “We are pretty much surrounded by residential development, but we have a stadium which perfectly fits the site,” explained Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Corporation project director Michael Greene. According to the developers it was the site’s suburban context that generated the need for the stadium’s undulating form. Anyway, on the 19 the of March I decided to visit the area and see for myself and I must admit that I cannot see how one can claim that the impact is minimal or anything less than major … what do you think? I did ask one of the residents of Vavasour Square and he said that as there has been a stadium there for a very long time he was not really in a position to complain. He was more concerned by the fact that there was a house fire on the square the day before and the fire engine could not gain entrance because the access road was too narrow and was also blocked by parked cars.