Urban Dentistry in Irishtown

Irishtown is an old Dublin village with a distinctive and unique character. This proposed new house could be classified as urban dentistry in that it involves improving a streetscape which currently has gaps.  We did a similar infill in Irishtown successfully a number of years ago.

Hatch Street Revival

Photos by rosphotography.ie

There is something satisfying in restoring the original use to a building.  This recently completed project involved the restoration of full residential use to a property which was in partial office use. The challenge in optimising the layout led me to clear out some rooms of unnecessary clutter and rationalise the bathroom locations.  The result is entirely refreshing and utterly practical. I have to confess I was blessed with  dream team of both contractor and client who jointly approached me.  I had previously worked with the contractor on the construction of 2 stunning riverside houses in Chapilizod which had received Planning Permission based on design from World Building of the Year winning Grafton Architects. Now if I needed a place to live right in the heart of the city, within a stone's throw from both Iveagh Gardens and Stephen's Green I could do a lot worse than rent this property.

En-suite with concealed pipework

Dining, Kitchen and Patio Garden

Main Bathroom

Restored Hall

Attic Gallery Bedroom

Dining and Living with new sliding pocket doors

Creative in every way

Hats off to builder Con Corcoran of Creative Builders Ltd in his fine work at this extension in Artane which is nearing completion. ABA Architects were involved in the construction drawings, tendering and site operations but the design was prepared by Jerry Hannigan Architect and in my (completely unbiased) opinion I think all can see what a fine creation it is and how it cleverly exploits the southerly aspect to the rear.  As  I write clients are packing their toothbrushes for the big move in. Happy days.

Hidden Column and Beam

When I designed the simple garden room extension to this Rathfarnham house I wanted the steel beam set into the floor zone but I chose to introduce a column to control the span of the steel and therefore its depth. I then chose to make a “cut out” feature beside this column to give a neat sculptural effect. The roof light in the picture as also statically positioned close to the old kitchen in order to optimise daylighting and sunshine. A high level window at the side facing south west also has a huge impact on the daylighting in this project. Hats off to builder Tommy Wade of Construction Development who kept us all smiling throughout.

Exempted on 2 counts

      Designing a second extension beside an existing extension can be interesting. In this south Dublin project I wanted to modify the earlier extension but any such modification has to be under clause 4.1.h. of the 2000 Planning Act which defines a certain type of exemption: "development consisting of the carrying out of works for the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of any structure, being works which affect only the interior of the structure or which do not materially affect the external appearance of the structure so as to render the appearance inconsistent with the character of the structure or of neighbouring structures".  This means that if the house had a pitched roof then the extension should too.  The second extension on the left,  which is exempt under the 2001 Planning Regulations, total extended area being under 40 sq.m., took its lead off the first but both were provided with gable walls and the opportunity for high level windows to allow good sun penetration. Each pitch roof also was given a ridge roof light which could be opened to allow...guess what...cooling! . Are we talking about Ireland?

NATURALLY COOL

We are entering the last 6 weeks on this house extension and renovation in Kildare town. The image shows the kitchen area on the left and the new sunroom on the right. The ridge roof window will have automatic openers, a perfect way of cooling this south facing room. With significant insulation upgrades throughout the house we have to give as much thought to cooling as heating. Our client on another project completed 18 months ago said that she hardly put the boiler on all winter and enjoyed great heating from the winter sun. When I look at house design the very first thing I do is establish the orientation of the house to optimises the passive solar heating dimension of the scheme.

Extending an Art deco Home

There are very few art deco houses in Dublin which have not been ruined by out of character alterations and so it is a delight to be working on one at the moment where we are looking at a small extension to the rear, as well as some (in character) alterations. I'm considering corner sliding doors which open and leave the corner free, just the sort of thing they'd have done in the thirties if the technology allowed it! Delightful project and clients...who wouldn't want to be an architect on days like this!