RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Southern - Over £100,000

The architect has achieved a positive balance between the forces that form today's architecture. The clients' brief is well articulated in the functional planning of the house, where the kitchen occupies centre stage, and the bedrooms, along with other elements, are tucked away above or to one side. The use of materials strikes a balance between the traditional - expected in west Cork vernacular architecture - and the modern, unexpected. The architects' reference to local vernacular architecture is oblique in that the traditional farmhouse consisted of a two storey pitched and gabled house, with attendant lean-to or pitched ancillary buildings. This is a standalone building, and is satisfactory in its own use of space and materials. It is important that new domestic architecture evolves to correctly express the diversity of values and diversity of cultures of the population of west Cork.

Architects' Description
The site was a sloping green field, facing west, with views of Durrus village and the Atlantic Ocean. The brief was determined by the requirements of two people, with a growing family, working at home with conservatory, office, utility and store. bedrooms are economically sized to concentrate space into the living areas. The kitchen/dining area is arranged to allow diners and cooks to communicate easily, and to screen the kitchen from the living room and office.

Factors which influenced the form are:

• the volumetric breakdown of the house akin to the farmhouses and outbuildings typical of the area
• the re-inforcement of the two sides of the site - one facing a hill in shadow, the other facing the sea
• he maximisation of natural light and ventilation

Clients' Comment
Our hopes were for a house which unified the aesthetics of modern design with the practicalities of a house for a growing family, and for a couple whose work with food finds its ultimate expression in the kitchen.