RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Eastern - Over £100,000

Irish neo-Brutalism derives its language from the stark forms and uses of in situ concrete as seen in the institutional 1960s work of Louis Kahn and the later 1970s brutal, tactile aestheticism of the East, as seen in the domestic work of Tadao Ando in Japan. The Hudson House is not a conventional work of domestic design, but has fine spatial qualities and makes a positive response to the client's brief and the site limitations - a Japanese  courtyard house content to live in an Irish backyard.

Architects' Description
A narrow, linear garden behind an existing restaurant on Railway Street is the site for this new house. The house is designed in response to the clients' particular requirements - they needed to be near to but separate from their work. They had been living over the restaurant and used an existing courtyard - the hollowed out shell of a disused workshop - as an outdoor room.

Clients' Comment
Front view: a small, odd house. Rear view: a small, compact block. Inside and outside and inside again: a spacious, light-filled arena for angles and light reflections. An oasis of peace. Our brief is more than fulfilled - a home, a meeting place, a gathering of people and elements, dogs and cats.