RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Dublin - Over £200,000

The design of the Arthouse required that it defined one side of the new Curved St. in Temple Bar, and that it gave expression to a new building typology.

With considerable skill the architect has fulfilled both aspiartions and created a building of serious architectural quality.

The external exposure of the light filled central space connects it to the street and conmfirms its accessibility. The disposition and scale of wall opes reflect the use of internal spaces. The corners are not junctions but continuations of the main wall plane.

With clarity and style the Arthouse makes a significant contribution to the redevelopment of Temple Bar.

Architects' Comments
Arthouse is a four storey over basement building incorporating an existing 19th century house. It houses the first Irish multi-media exhibition / installation / performance space with full recording facilities and production unit at basement level, a large exhibition area at ground floor, and a library with computerised slide archive, catalogue archive, and networked information resources at ground floor.

In architectural terms the project is a volumetrically connected series of spaces from basement to third floor. The main facade with its random pattern of fenestraion, highlights the concave space making quality of the surface. The project was completed in January 1996.

Client's Comments
Arthouse is the first purpose built multimedia centre for the arts in the world. The challenge was huge in both the development of the brief and the design of the building, as there were no role models on which to work. Its architectural merit is not only that itis a beautiful building but that it functions in practice to the best aspirations of its users.