RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Eastern (over £100,000)

Coill Dubh is a Bord na Mona Village designed by Frank Gibney. Typically, Gibney's work identifies through detail the value of the individual house and through the articulation of formalised open space, its position within a larger community. By integrating the individual detail into the overall formal framework of the building, this modest but thoughtful project adheres to the same worthwhile principles. The building language is restrained but expressive; a refreshing change from the muscular formal exaggerations of much contemporary building including, sadly, some recent Credit Unions. Internally, a simple plan is enhanced by careful making and proportioning of openings and inventive detailing including the integration and expression of services. This is a mature and likeable work.