The huge, striking and innovative monument of the Spire stands in the middle of O'Connell Street just across from the famous GPO. 120m high and 3m in diameter at the base, the Spire rises above O’Connell Street, breaking above the roof line with as slender and elegant a movement as is technically possible.
During daylight the street scape and its people are softly reflected in the stainless steel surface of the Spire. From its base up to about 10m, the stainless steel is partially polished in an abstract design to provide a slightly higher reflective surface than the remainder of the Spire.
From dusk, the Spire’s stainless steel surface is softly lit by the ambient lighting of the street scape. The base is gently lit and the tip illuminated from a light source within to provide a beacon in the night sky over Dublin.
The Spire is approximately 15cm in diameter at its apex. The upper part of the Spire sways gently when the wind blows, reflecting the character of the city's climate. The monument's tip can sway up to a maximum of 1.5m under extreme wind loading; don't be too alarmed if you're nearby when this happens, all tall slender structures move in the wind, even lamp posts!