RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Western - Under £100,000

This is a simple house on a sensitive site, conceived to take advantage of its location and to give strength to the expression of the built form. The use of natural stone in a dry stone wall pattern is assured in the 'eartg' element of this two storey building. The level of detailing is well considered and appropriate to the strong building.

Architect's Description
Much of the Irish landscape has been devastated in recent years by indiscriminatebungalow development. This house, situated three metres from Brandy Harbour - an inlet of Galway Bay - is a retrospective essay in what might have been. It is an attempt to understand (from abroad) the materials of this part of the Irish countryside and the form of the traditional architecture, whilst, at the same time, making a contemporary response to both landscape and lifestyle.

Traditionally, Irish cottages are dominated by their roof, with their elevations only glimpsed at the last moment. Internally, a large space up to the roof gives on to smaller spaces at either end - a model which, to our mind, is peculiarly appropriate once again to contemporary family life.

Externally, therefore, we have adopted a simple rectilinear form, with the first floor spaces partially enveloped within a roof formed of mill-finished aluminium, like the galvanised steel of local barns, and with a curved roof apex distantly reminiscent of thatch. The landscape of undulating drystone walls is gathered up at ground floor level to form a battered rain screen to insulation placed externally around a blockwork construction. Between the drystone walls and aluminium is cedar boarding and sliding and cedar windows.