The Oval

High noon on a warm afternoon and there’s no place in Ballsbridge quite like the centre of The Oval. Planned before anyone saw that nasty property crash coming, the office space never quite filled up in here. Oh well, that leaves more room on the curved amphitheatre seating to soak up the atmosphere and marvel at the sheer size of the great curving building.
Built on the grounds of what only the oldest Ballsbridge residents will remember as the Spring Grove Laundry (previously the Swastika Laundry until 1939), all that remains of the old building is the protected chimney, then and now a local landmark.
Mink Nail Salon’s presence on the ground floor, as well as the thriving Starbucks at the front of house, means there’s always a few non-​suit types hanging around.
Note: The Jackie Skelly gym beneath Block 3 has the recurring honour of being the Gym Away From Home for visiting stars playing in the RDS. Stick around long enough and you’ll see a few WWE wrestlers or even… yes ladies, JT himself. Britney, eat your heart out.

The Oval in Ballsbridge must be weighing heavy on the mind of some poor property developer somewhere. This fancy-​dance complex, complete with a gym, a dreaded starbucks and a bizillion flats, offices and retail space, lies mostly dormant, awaiting good news from the global economy battle front.
I wonder how dated the cutting edge design may seem by the time this happens, or if there will even be any humans left to work in the offices. Maybe, the car park will no longer be necessary because, finally, we’ll have perfected solar-​powered matter deconstructing teleportation technology, or maybe it will just be underwater. Whatever happens, hopefully I’ll be writing Unilocal articles about the virtual reality hot-​spot at Surface Station 13C on Mars.
Enough of that, I do like this swanky complex, I think the designers really tried their best and it works well. The problem is that it’s so darn quiet and empty the whole thing feels like a mausoleum already. So, two stars.