CULLIGAN ARCHITECTS

Winner of the RIAI 2020 Irish Architecture Awards for Best House and shortlisted for both the Architectural Review home of the year awards 2023 and the Archdaily Building of the year Awards 2023.

A new build house and an existing coach house are located within the garden, to the rear, of a protected structure in South County Dublin. The Architects approached the layout of the site by creating a series of garden spaces to the front, middle and rear. These planted outdoor gardens and courtyards are positioned in such a way that creates a composition of differing spaces, allowing light in and views out from each room within the house.

The existing coach house, an historic structure, was maintained as a separate entity acknowledging its existence as a standalone building. An external courtyard which takes advantage of the irregular geometry of the site constraints was created between the existing coach house and the new house.

The house makes the most of its orientation, windows and glazed doors are carefully positioned to ensure that the interior spaces reflect the changing light and seasons. Light entering the living room, to the rear of the house in particular, cast dramatic shadows across the internal brick walls as it passes through the rhythmical vertical timbers fins along the clerestory glazing. The house, both externally and internally, uses a restrained material palette and differing textures to create a rich environment within the home.

Photography by Fionn McCann, Alice Clancy & Culligan Architects