Survey Data
Reg No
15505041
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Original Use
Garda station/constabulary barracks
In Use As
Garda station/constabulary barracks
Date
1935 - 1940
Coordinates
304888, 121498
Date Recorded
05/07/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached five-bay two-storey Garda Síochána station, built 1937, on a rectangular plan with single-bay two-storey projecting end bays centred on three-bay single-storey flat-roofed projection; two-bay two-storey side elevations. Refenestrated, 1988. Hipped slate roof on a U-shaped plan behind parapet with ridge tiles, red brick Running bond chimney stacks having reconstituted stone capping supporting terracotta pots, and concealed rainwater goods in reconstituted stone box eaves retaining cast-iron hoppers and downpipes. Banded red brick Running bond or reconstituted stone block-faced walls with reconstituted stone block-faced parapet. Square-headed central door opening with step threshold, and stepped rebated reveals supporting reinforced reconstituted stone lintel framing timber panelled double doors. Square-headed window openings with concrete sills, and reinforced reconstituted stone lintels framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing steel casement windows having horizontal glazing bars. Set back from street with roughcast boundary wall to perimeter having concrete "saddleback" coping.
Appraisal
A Garda Síochána station erected to a design produced by the Office of Public Works (established 1831) representing an integral component of the twentieth-century built heritage of Wexford with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the symmetrical footprint centred on a canopied doorcase; the uniform or near-uniform proportions of the openings on each floor with those openings originally showing horizontal glazing patterns complementing an eye-catching banded surface finish; and the parapeted roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the restrained interior: however, the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of a Garda Síochána station forming part of a self-contained group alongside adjacent officers' houses with the resulting ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in Roche's Road.