Sunlight Chambers

The Sunlight Chambers is a listed office and commercial building in Dublin's Temple Bar district, standing at the corner of Parliament Street and Essex Quay on the banks of the Liffey. Named after the famous soap brand of the British firm Lever Brothers, the building was completed in 1902 by the architect Edward Ould. Ould, who had previously worked on the Port Sunlight company village, designed the building in an Italianate style that was unusual for Dublin. Despite its modern steel-frame construction, the building met with fierce criticism when it opened and was at times called the ugliest structure in the city. After being used by the Irish tax authority and the horse racing governing body, the building is now owned by a law firm that keeps its offices here.

Visitors can admire the architectural design of the facade, which consists of rusticated granite on the ground floor, while the upper stories are made of rendered Portland limestone. The windows range from wide arched windows on the ground floor to biforas and arcades on the upper floors. The most striking feature, however, is the colored glazed ceramic friezes on the first and second floors, created by Conrad Dressler. These reliefs tell the story of hygiene and mainly show various stages of washing laundry, complemented by scenes such as plowing farmers, meant to symbolize getting dirty. Four round reliefs with busts of women on the ground floor complete this decorative series, which is considered a reference to Renaissance art.

The building was restored during a comprehensive renovation in the late 1990s. Eighty percent of the original terracotta roof tiles were reused, while the rest were imported from Italy. The facade received a new yellowish coat of paint, protected from dirt by a special pigment, which also sets off the bluish ceramic friezes to better effect. The ceramic reliefs were also repainted and reglazed. In contrast to the elaborate exterior, the interior of the building remains rather plain, which keeps the focus on the historical and artistic significance of the facade.