RIAI | Irish Architecture Awards

Citation

Western Under €300,000

The Dromoland Gazebo is arguably the most important of the ornamental garden buildings and follies to be found on the Dromoland Demesne. Erected by Sir Edward O'Brien, probably to the designs of John Aheron, around 1740, it was intended as a viewing belvedere. Now separated from the demesne by the roadway, it has taken a on a new significance as a prominent local landmark At one stage close to collapse, this historic gazebo has now been carefully repaired.

The result is that the future of this delightful structure has been secured for the enjoyment of this and future generations, and it now stands as an outstanding example of conservation at its best. The architect has skillfully blended traditional construction methods and materials with the sensitive use of modern techniques to repair the structural defects, and in so doing has achieved a high standard of conservation.

Architect's Comment
Some 250 years after its construction in 1744, the gazebo was in a very poor structural state and in danger of collapse due to the outward trust from the roof on its octagonal walls. Each of the faces containing openings had full height cracks extending from base up into the masonry roof structure. Much of the stonework to the limestone arches, cornice and blocking courses, was badly disturbed and many individual stones had fallen. The building needed a collar to counteract the thrust from the roof and this was fabricated in four pieces with special connectors to provide adequate tolerance on site and set into the rubble stone just below the cornice. The stone arches, cornice and blocking courses were then taken up and re-bedded with minimal stone replacement. Brick reveals to the windows, were rebuilt or repaired and rotten timber lintels replaced. Internally, the vertical cracks rising up into the dome were filled with broken clay tiles, lime and sand.

The greatest challenge lay in the repair of the brick ribs of the domed roof, which had become loose and unstable making them difficult to repair in safety. To avoid the risk of collapse we introduced 10mm thick stainless steel plates fabricated to the width and rolled to the profile of the ribs. These were bolted right through the masonry roof structure to provide a subtle form of permanent formwork enabling the masons to point the ribs in safely from the sides. A sheet metal roof covering and new unfinished oak joinery were installed making the building weather tight for the first time in over fifty years. The original ornamental turf bastions were also restored and floodlighting installed. All repairs were carried out using lime mortars and traditional building practice, the only e interventions being the subtle stainless steel collar and the rib plates.

Clients' Comment
The Dromoland Gazebo, now seen so clearly from the new Newmarket-on-Fergus by-pass, was erected by Sir Edward O'Brien of Dromoland, Co. Clare, in the 1740's. He had a life-long passion for horse racing and breeding, and the edifice was built on the summit of a hill to provide shelter from the bitter Fergus estuary winds. From here he could watch his horses training. The vaulted basement below provided shelter for his horses and their riders. The gazebo was also part of an overall garden plan for the estate, and the building itself most likely designed by John Aheron of Limerick. Two hundred years after its construction, major cracks had developed, and the roof, on which concrete had been used around the 1920's, was proving too great a weight. In 1998 a Dromoland Turret Preservation Trust was founded to raise funds for restoration. Thanks to the generosity of the Heritage Council, Clare County Council, the Department of the Environment and private subscription, this has been achieved. In 1993, James Howley of Howley Harrington Architects, subsequently architects for its conservation, wrote in his book The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland, that this was "probably the finest of all the Irish gazebos." He also suggested in his text that the gazebo was in a very poor structural state and unlikely to be repaired. He is delighted to have been proved wrong.

Throughout the project we enjoyed continual support from Howley Harrington Architects who helped us procure much of our conservation grant funding and enabled such a remarkable programme of conservation works on a very modest budget stretched over several phases of work.