The architecture of the Dublin airport terminal was highly unusual at the time.The airport was a British Royal Flying Corps base during World War I. It was taken over by the Air Corps when Ireland gained independence. Work commenced on the terminal in 1938 after the Government was persuaded to support “such an elaborate plan” despite the fact that annual passenger numbers were only in the hundreds. The tiered design and curvilinear forms echo the lines of the great ocean-going liners.