FEBRUARY 2018

The dlr LexIcon, the new Central Library and Cultural Centre opened in 2015. With 80,000 items in the adult and junior libraries, 60+ computers, 100 study spaces and a floor dedicated to Local Studies, there is plenty to discover at dlr LexIcon. It has attracted controversy, with opponents critical of its massive façade and its €36.6m cost at a time of austerity in Ireland, and supporters praising its interior, usability, and environmentally responsible construction.

The site chosen was Moran Park, a partially derelict public park with bowling green, running perpendicular to the coastline down an escarpment. The site was chosen because it was already owned by DLR CC and would link The Metals (Queens Road) on the busy seafront to the north with George's Street, Dún Laoghaire's main shopping street, to the south. Carr Cotter & Naessens, with a design by David Naessens, won the architecture competition in November 2007.

In May 2009 DLR CC launched the public consultation required under Part 8 of the Planning & Development Regulations; a special development review meeting in November 2009 approved the plan by 22 votes to 3, rejecting Richard Boyd Barrett's proposal to locate the library on Carlisle Pier. Sisk Group won the request for tender and began construction in April 2012. Thirteen 40-tonne concrete rafters constructed in County Offaly were each brought on site in a single night.

The building was opened to the public for preview on Culture Night (19 September 2014) and Open House Dublin (19 October 2014 and opened for general use on 8 December 2014.

The building won the 2014 Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland award categories Best Culture and Best Public Building.