The County Hall An Halla Chontae

1. The County Hall The County HallAn Halla Chontae

2. When was it built? It was built in 1968 and was opened on April 16th. Why was it built? It was built as the headquarters of the Cork County Council. Up to then their offices were all over the city.

3. Who designed the building? • It was designed by a cork architect called Patrick McSweeney. • Where was it built? • It was built on the Carrigrohane Rd.( straight road). • The land was owned by John A. Wood.

4. Facts about the Building • It took three years to build the County Hall. • It cost 480,000 pounds to build. • 120 workers were involved in this project. • The County Hall when opened was the tallest building in Ireland. • It had 16 storeys, it now has 17. • The building was over 200 feet above pavement level and 50ft beneath the building.

5. The Design. The exterior of the building was very unusual. There were concrete cruciforms placed on the outside. Many people felt the building was ugly and too modern.

6. Two Working Men These are a pair of statues outside the building . They were made by the Irish sculptor Oisin Kelly . One statue is tall and thin and the other is shorter and fatter . Both men are looking up to the top of the building .

7. The Elevators • There are 3 lifts in the Tower Block. • The lifts were installed by Otis Ltd. from Dublin. • These lifts were the fastest in Europe in1968. • The lifts go as far as the 16th floor and you have to take the stairs to get to the 17th.

8. The Extension in 2006 An extension was added because: Some of the concrete was falling off the building. It was very warm in the summer and cold in the winter. It had become very shabby. Another Cork architect Shay Cleary designed the building.

9. Changes made • They built a new council chamber. • A new rooftop pavilion was added. This was called the Vertigo room. • Extra office space was added and a canteen on the ground floor. • It cost 62 million euro.

10. The Council Chamber Members of the council meet twice a month every second Monday. There are 48 councillors. This chamber is very modern. It is set on v- shape steel stilts.

11. The Vertigo Room .The seventeenth floor of the County Hall is called the Vertigo room. .It has an amazing view of the county’s vast green fields and the lovely river Lee. .Parties are held in here as well as weddings. .Before this room came into being, they held barbecues on the roof of the building.

12. What happens in the County Hall? • The local Authorities provide the city and county with many services. • Here are some of the things they do. • Lighting • Water • Roads • parks • libraries • Lifeguards • Recycling centres • Planning permission

13. Our Visit to the County Hall. We visited the County Hall on December 3rd 2012 . We were given a tour of the building and even got to visit the Vertigo Room. We interviewed a Mr. Geaney and asked him lots of questions about the building.

14. How does the County Hall compare to other buildings? • It is no longer the tallest building in Ireland.(67) • That is now the Elysian Towers in Cork City (71 m). • It is taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.(56.7 m) • The Eiffel Tower is 320 m. • The Empire State Building is 443 m. • The tallest building in the World is the BurjKhalifa in Dubai (830 m)

15. Cork in 1968 • There were 620 pupils in our school that year. • Jack Lynch was the Taoiseach of the country. • Tom Jones had the number 1 hit with ‘Delilah’ on the day the County hall opened. • Popular cars at the time were Morris Minors and Minis • Mini- skirts were all the fashion! • Pounds and pence were our unit of currency.