RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Dublin (over €300,000)

Rigorous, elegant, utterly modern, this scheme of offices and apartments is singled out for its contribution to the discussion of residential design in the city, and its unflinching refusal to compromise.

Architects / Client Comment
The new building development by owner/architectural practice on the vacant mews site at the near No. 19/20 Merrion Square also includes the site the mews located at rear of No. 21 Merrion Square, which was demolished on the advice of Dublin Corporation, due to its dangerous structural condition.

The project comprises a two storey, steel channel enhanced, above ground floor car parking facility with 3 no. entrance cores, each providing a lift with surrounding staircase. Office accommodation with 2 no. separate apartments including balconies; occur on the first floor. The second floor contains 3 no. large apartments each with full length, timber decked terraces. The roof level, above the second floor, is the location of the 3 no. gardens and plantrooms servicing the development.

The building structure consists of a column supported, power floated, reinforced concrete slab at first floor level pierced by individual cast in situ RC cores, which stabilise the building structure, with each containing an RC lift shaft with surrounding RC stairs.

The first floor slab supports the concrete block part walls, which in turn carry precast concrete planks with power floated screeds on the second floor and roof level. The gables at either end which run from ground to roof level are fully insulated loading bearing cavity walls.

The external finishes consist of painted sand and cement finished concrete block cavity walls on the gables and on the cavity walls enclosing the cores at roof level. North and south elevations employ the use of painted parallel steel flanged channels which form a modular matrix, enclosing powder coated opening windows, similar in colour to the painted steelwork. The other infill element is of a rain screen cladding system using ceramic planks as the external membrane. On the north and south elevations green tinted toughened glass, framed in MS flats, is used on the timber decked terrace and balcony screens.