Georgian Architecture: History And History Of The Georgian Architectural Period

Introduction
The aim of this report is to explore Georgian architecture and design, its history and its status.

The Georgian architectural period has been referred to as the “long century” as it covers from August 1714 when King George I [figure 1] came to power right up until the death of George IV in June 1830. The Georgian style arrived to the world in 1714 and was the style that succeeded the Stuart Period. The image of “Highclere Castle” [figure 2] is a great example of the famous Georgian style with the door centred in the middle; numerous large windows on the main floors and the buildings symmetry is a key example of what makes the Georgian style so significant. Colen Campbell was the most important architect in influencing, leading

Colen was born in June 1676 and died in September 1729. He was a Scottish architect, writer and has been credited as the founder of the Georgian era. Author of the “British Architecture” or “Vitruvius Britannicus”, this was his major contribution to the Georgian era and the book was published numerous times between 1715 and 1725. The book contained detailed drawings of buildings from all angles frequently from the elevation and plan views. It contains over 300 drawings including interior designs, perspective views and intricate ground plans of buildings. Colen took his inspiration for Vitruvius Britannicus from a younger Scottish architect called James Smith [c.1645-1731]. Colen praised the young architect in the second edition of the Vitruvius Britannicus by referring to him as “the most experienced architect of that kingdom” [page 10 Vitruvius Britannicus: “it was defigned by the molt experience’d Architect of that Kingdom, Mr James Smith, Anno 1692.] From 1712 until 1729 when he died, Colen Campbell had over thirty architectural structures built. His first was the Shawfield Mansion in Glasgow [refer to Figure 9] where we can clearly see the Georgian features such as the centred door, the large windows on the main floor and chimneys on either of the house coming to life. With the huge success of the Vitruvius Britannicus, a banker at the time “Henry Hoare” wanted Colen to

Years later, this Ducart design would be referred to as “Newton Perry”. Excluding Dublin, the Limerick Georgian area is the largest collection of Georgian houses and other buildings still surviving and in daily use. Some of the most well known landmarks built in Limerick during this period include Colbert Train station, Taits Clock monument, Sarsfield Bridge and the Dominican Church in Glentworth