Marino

The historical evolution of the Marino layout is summarised in the maps which illustrate the site before and after it’s development and the early schemes of the design in development by the architects.

Marino was heavily influenced by the early garden suburb estates in England. The similarities to estates at Roehampton (now called Doverhouse Road estate) and Becontree in London are particularly striking.

The geometric open spaces, crescents, stepped terraces of 4-8 houses, and canted blocks that highlight crossroad nodes in the London schemes (bottom row) were adopted in the Marino layout (top row).

The “celtic cross” symbol is sometimes cited as an influence on the Marino layout, however it can be seen that the motif was already used in Becontree. The use of radial layouts in the London schemes apparently causes as much confusion as it does in Dublin today!