Small Moves, Big Impact
Awnings
Historical photos of Sandymount village around The Green area dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries show shops and businesses with awnings to their street frontage These add to the ambiance and identify the retail and commercial core.
Few examples still exist, Brownes and The Sandymount House which has large awnings on two sides which are attractive but dominated by advertising alcohol.
SAMRA proposes a dedicated design strategy that uses awnings as a vehicle to create a visual identity for the village that is unified and distinctive. This could have had the effect of building up a sense of place for people and that intensifies the character of the village.
Simple adaptive design that is mute could be developed and integrated in the core commercial areas.
If this was supported by local businesses Dublin City Council could coordinate an awning installation program and make it available to businesses in the village area on a time-limited basis.
We would suggest if this program is subsidised it will increase take up and if a single supplier was made available and it could keep costs down, increase efficiency and increase consistency.
Awnings encourage individual businesses to install
