Ireland Was One of the First European Countries to Be Eight Per Cent

Ireland was one of the first European countries to be eight per cent. The national debt, however, currently brought to the edge of the abyss by the property bubble. around 118 per cent, still grows, and the associated An openness to influence In 2008, when the bubble of increased speculative con- interest rate remains a sword of Damocles over the Irish TEXT: SANDRA ANDREA O’CONNELL struction and rapidly rising property prices suddenly national budget. burst, the banking system collapsed. By the time the Celtic Remarkably, the architecture policy has essentially es- Tiger received 85 billion in European support in 2010, caped being under pressure during these turbulent years. Ireland’s success at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, on contemporary Irish architecture at Tong Ji University housing prices had fallen 35 per cent. Currently, the rate Although retrenched, the ambition to contribute to a sus- crowned with a Silver Lion for Dublin practice Grafton in Shanghai and at the RIBA’s Florence Gallery in London. of loans has returned to 73 per cent, bringing the number tainable, safe and social environment remains. The focus Architects, has firmly put the spotlight on this island on the The RIAI actively works with government, clients and of approved loans in the year 2013 to the same level as has shifted more towards the wider components of archi- western edge of Europe and its young and innovative archi- the public to expand the conversation about architecture in 1971. Homes are now worth about 60 per cent less than tecture (telling stories, building communities, research). tecture culture. The last fifteen years have been marked and to provide new platforms where the public and pro- in 2006, when the boom was at its height. But the injection With the spectre of vacant speculative projects still fresh by a particularly strong showing of Irish architecture, both fession meet. It also delivers aspects of the Government of capital has brought the free fall to a stand; the econ- in their mind’s eye, the circumstances have called the at home and abroad, including a focus on a quality public Policy on Architecture, including research, awareness and omy is growing again. In 2011, the budget deficit was Irish people, who are spread throughout the world, largely building programme and Irish architects winning significant education. As the registration body, the RIAI is committed reduced from 31 to fourteen per cent; it now lies around towards the security of their own homes. international competitions. The Royal Institute of Architects to ensure standards in architecture and a quality built of Ireland (RIAI), which guest-edits this issue’s Eurovision environment for all. The RIAI has over 3000 members, of with support from the DAHG, supports architecture which 2700 are architects on the statutory register. in Ireland through a wide range of initiatives, including The RIAI is delighted to guest edit Eurovision, which its annual Irish Architecture Awards, architectural com profiles Ireland’s leading and emerging practices and petitions, a dynamic programme of public lectures and explores how ‘openness to outside influence’ is what allows exhibitions, and quality publications, such as its Annual this ‘island architecture’ to contribute so successfully in Review and the journal Architecture Ireland. Europe and further afield. Internationalisation is a key focus for the RIAI, and the Institute was recently invited to present exhibitions Info www.riai.ie

4 The 2013 Award Winners pictured at the RIAI Irish Architecture Awards in Dublin, July 2013.

2 Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Ireland Farrellof Grafton Architects with their Silver Lion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale

2 The RIAI has published to- date three editions of its new annual review, Irish Architecture, which contains over twenty award- winning build ings, along with essays and reviews

by leading HALPENNY MARIE-LOUISE cultural Guest edited 3 by a leading and architec- national tural com- Ireland’s representation at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale organization mentators. by Heneghen Peng architects. in one of the European countries. Within a range of themes, they Introduction to the strive to give deeper insight into the current Government Policy on Architecture state of architectural Ireland is currently midway through its second Government of high standards within the Built Environment. The Policy affairs. Policy on Architecture (2009 – 2015), ‘Towards a Sustainable also ensures that the architectural heritage is conserved and Future’, which seeks to promote awareness and understand- maintained to a high standard and fosters the demand for high ing of the contribution of good design to both daily life and quality architecture in the community as a whole. the well-being of society as a whole. Good architecture is Ireland’s Government Policy on Architecture is structured fundamentally about much more than individual buildings. It around fifteen key statements and contains 45 actions to be must also concern itself with the realisation of an acceptable implemented over its lifetime, primarily, by a range of Govern- human environment for all. ment Departments, state agencies and key stakeholders, such The policy places an emphasis on sustainable develop- as the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland and the Irish ment of the environment and urban design, incorporates Architecture Foundation. The Department of Arts, Heritage architectural heritage in a holistic integrated manner while and Gaeltacht has the lead role in the implementation of more ALICE CLANCY encouraging and supporting high quality modern architecture. than half of the actions along with coordination of policy and 3 The Eurovision Ireland team, photographed in the historic Dublin Assembly Rooms, courtesy of the Irish Georgian Society (left to right): John Graby, RIAI Director; Emmett Scanlon, architect and A10 correspondent; Michael Hayes, In pursuing its Policy on Architecture, the Irish Government the implementation of all 45 actions. architectural graduate and contributor; Neil McCullough, contributing architect; Sandra Andrea O’Connell, editor RIAI promotes high standards of design and construction in build- publications and guest editor; Kathryn Meghen, Assistant Director RIAI. Not pictured: Lisa Cassidy, architectural graduate and contributor, and photographer Alice Clancy. ing works for which it is responsible and supports the pursuit Info www.ahg.gov.ie/en/Heritage/BuiltHeritageandArchitecturalPolicy/

38 A10 # 53 Eurovision: Ireland Eurovision: Ireland A10 # 53 39 Post-bubble zeal Since Ireland adopted its first Architecture Policy in 2002, the quality of architecture has gone up, as has public interest, says Martin Colreavy, Principal Advisor for Built Heritage and Architecture Policy, DAHG. And although the crisis has hit Ireland hard, Colreavy will not let go of the ambition to improve and support a high-quality and sustainable built environment. Michelle Fagan, President of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, reflects on what architects can do to help make the ambitions come true.

IRELAND — TEXT: INDIRA VAN ‘T KLOOSTER, PHOTOGRAPHY: ALICE CLANCY

Even Turkey has a (draft) architectural policy, so a policy as that did exist before in Gaelic which dealt with the making and such is not what makes the difference. What does? crafting of places. This is important because in our culture, the Martin Colreavy: What is important is to have a strong net- Irish diaspora, the ability to tell stories has always been impor- work of many disciplines stranded together to assist in the tant. Perhaps that’s why we constantly try to find new ways to practical implementation of a national policy. To support this, combine the old and the new and communicate this in differ- we have set up an inter-departmental approach with stake- ent ways. Sometimes a policy is as much about this process as holders, such as the Office for Public Works (OPW), the Depart- indeed the specific outcome itself. ment of Environment, the Arts Council, the Royal Institute of How can (young) architects be included in the govern- Ireland Architects Ireland (RIAI), National Academic Institutions, the ment’s ambitions? Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF), which offers critical re- MC: We did promote the competition approach to design, like flection on contemporary architecture, and a strong local and participation in Europan. But we also invest in open call sys- regional network of professionals in cities and counties within tems, tendering procedures to make them more accessible to local government, whom we depend greatly on. young architects. How can you measure its effectiveness? Michelle Fagan: The Government Policy is an indication of the MC: We have actually tried to investigate that more precisely, commitment to quality in the built environment and a recog and it is difficult to get scientifically sound answers. We can- nition of the importance of the place architecture has in society. not actually tell how many jobs have been created or how It is there to be used by any architect, young or old. procurement; much better the quality has become since the introduction it has been used to facilitate the work of architects through Ireland of an architectural policy. However, we have found a raised award schemes and research. The policy is open and inclusive, awareness on architecture and more debates about quality, and young architects are the architects of the future and so will reuse, community-based design, or identity. In Westport, for benefit the most from the policy. Architects can be included in example, investment in the public realm is based on a design- the government’s ambitions by engaging with them, promoting led approach. Peter Hynes, an architect and County Manager the importance of architecture by being relevant to society. in Mayo, is one of its driving forces behind the process. In How does RIAI help young architects? Dublin, City Architect Ali Grehan works on new developments MF: By supporting their work in a professional sense. We have in the city, such as the proposed Parnell Cultural Quarter, based launched a new award for Emerging Practices, which leads to 2 around a new city library. exposure through publication and public lectures. As a young Martin Colreavy is the Principal How can you fund this architectural policy in times of eco- architect in Ireland, in general, the first opportunities come Advisor, Built Her nomic crisis? from small commissions from family and friends in private itage and Archi- tectural Policy at MC: Ireland has been in challenging times before, such as in housing. There are very few opportunities for larger commis- the Department the 1980s, and since then we have perhaps learned to work sions until practices are more established. That is why the of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht more collectively on creating places like in Westport and Cork. RIAI promotes open competitions as an effective procurement with special For any policy, financial support is vital; without it, a policy can method for getting the best quality architecture built. many responsibility for the new Gov be perceived to be ineffective. Research and experience have competitions being won by new and young practices, such as ernment Policy taught us that good architecture lasts longer; it’s also con- A2 Architects' Tullamore Arts Centre (see A10 #49), and has on Architecture 2009 – 2015. nected to making healthier places. That’s why we financially resulted in a number of award-winning buildings. It is also Martin has exten- support research programmes to decide how to proceed in the very important that more young architects become interested sive experience as a Senior future on an evidence-based approach to policy development. in the role of their profession in the wider community and put Architect within Also, the public investment programme of the past fifteen years themselves out there to show what they can do. We need to the private sector, working has produced many outstanding local government buildings, create the demand by showing that there is a need. both in Ireland such as in Swords, Co. Dublin; Dooradoyle, Co. Limerick, and What’s your biggest concern regarding the position of the and Germany. most recently in Wexford. It’s important to keep architecture architect in Ireland? Michelle Fagan is policy and its networks alive across the many multidisciplinary MF: Underlying the economic situation is a question about the President of the RIAI. Michelle strands of application. relevance of architects to society at large. Many clients are not graduated from Is the private sector also included in this? aware of the range of services architects can provide - we come Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) MC: There may not be a widely accepted agreement on quality after decisions have been made about the site, the form of the in 1990 and in the private realm and consumers make a choice for various building and the costs. This is probably why architects are very has worked in Dublin, Frankfurt reasons one cannot legislate for. But we have found a higher comfortable at the domestic scale, where we have maximum and Berlin. She public awareness on architectural quality, also inspired by tel- impact. The opportunity to create the best possible built envi- founded FKL architects with Paul evision shows like ‘Room to Improve’ by Dermot Bannon and ronment is then lost to society. This is reinforced by a certain Kelly and Gary ‘Grand Designs’ by Kevin McCloud. People are now using the level of myopia on the part of the architectural community, Lysaght in 1998. FKL architects is word ‘architect’ – they did not do so before! where we tend to talk to ourselves rather than engage in the an international, Ireland has set new goals for architecture in the future, public discussion that goes on outside. Architects have to put award-winning practice and has amongst them, sustainable reuse of its cities and towns. themselves into a leading position by political and community curated the What’s the focus? engagement. They need to focus on issues relating to our sus- Irish exhibition at the 2006 Venice MC: When we translated the policy into [native] Irish we found tainability as a species on this planet; that is where the oppor- Architecture Bien that many words were difficult to translate directly, such as tunities and duties for architecture lie, and where architects nale, SubUrban to SuperRural. ‘urban design’. However, what we did discover were old words can show their relevance.

40 A10 # 53 Eurovision: Ireland Eurovision: Ireland A10 # 53 41 Global JIRU HAVRAN FEDERICO BRUNETTI

3 Located on a site of great natural Nordic beauty, this site-specific art pavilion by A2 Architects was designed for Pulp Press – a video 3 Bocconi University was conceived by Grafton Architects installation by Irish artist John Gerard. Pulp Press ‘recreates’ the former giant paper machines that once dominated this post-industrial as a window to Milan, with the public space of the Aula site at Kistefos, Norway – now a sculpture park – as a projected hyper-realistic large image. Magna opening onto the street and providing glimpses of university life.

2 Located at a crossroads – between Soho and Oxford Street

– the Photographers’ Gallery occupies London’s quieter back Ireland Island architecture lanes. A north-light periscope window projects like a Cyclops’ TEXT: SANDRA ANDREA O’CONNELL eye or camera into the wider city skyline. DENNIS GILBERT

Adrift between the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, ‘Island Stadium – for cues on how to build in the cultural, climatic and and will have its next outing in Budapest, where the practice has Today, much of the practice’s work abroad is through ‘knowl- Ireland’ occupies a position of remoteness and isolation on geographic territory of South America. ‘Openness to influence won a competition to renew an inner-city university campus edge transfer in specialist areas, such as health care, research the western edge of Europe – one that has been celebrated by is a starting point for any new project and a prerequisite for and re-establish its lost connection with the River Danube. and education,’ according to Scott’s son, Niall. The practice is its literary figures. ‘You might think that the sea is company’, good architecture,’ explain practice founders Shelley McNa- Participation in international competitions is a key strategy currently on site in Bahrain with a maternity hospital, and has writes the poet Seamus Heaney, before unleashing nature’s mara and Yvonne Farrell. This deep engagement with ‘place’ for Irish practices, and Heneghen Peng Architects are masters recently won competitions for a 5G Research Centre in Surrey ‘savage’ force, holding people and buildings in a tight grip in his is also evident in their forthcoming School of Economics in of this. Founded in New York in 1999 by Róisin Heneghen and (UK) and the Proton Beam Therapy Centre at London’s UCLH. poem, ‘Storm on the Island’. This geographic separation from Toulouse (FR), which will ‘inhale and exhale’ the fabric of this Shih-Fu Peng, it was an Irish competition for civic offices in Scott Tallon Walker have also designed for some of Ireland’s

Ireland mainland Europe was further compounded by political and medieval city. ‘It inhales to make a core and a heart. It exhales Kildare that returned Heneghen to her native land in 2001. The most acclaimed artists, like the Paris studio of Louis Le Brocquy, cultural isolation in the first few decades after the foundation to connect to the spaces of the city,’ say Grafton Architects. practice’s successful entry for the Grand Egyptian Museum and become art patrons themselves by commissioning sculp- of the new Irish Free State in 1922. Ireland remained neutral in ‘Openness to influence’ is arguably the most recurrent catapulted it almost overnight to international success. tures and tapestries, including Gerda Fromel’s evocative mov- the Second World War and, for the pre- and post-war genera- theme in the work of Irish architects. This was evocatively Heneghen Peng are currently on site with an art depot in Wei- ing sails sculpture for the former Carrolls Factory in Dundalk. tion of Irish architects, access to the Modern movement was shown in O’Donnell + Tuomey’s presentation, Vessel, at the mar (DE), the new Architecture School in Greenwich (UK) and Collaborating with contemporary artists has also launched often through self-exile, such as the Paris-based architect and Venice Biennale, which contained various influences, from the the Museum of Palestinian Culture in Ramallah. Several of a young Dublin practice, A2 Architects, internationally. Having designer Eileen Gray (1878-1976), who was honoured with a writings of Aldo Rossi and the poetry of Seamus Heaney to the their projects, like the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, designed a flexible studio-cum-social-space for the Irish artist major retrospective at the Centre Pompidou Paris this spring. intrinsic beauty of Japanese wooden spoons. Sheila O’Donnell are located on sensitive UNESCO World Heritage sites. The John Gerrard in Vienna (AT), the practice recently completed Fast-forward to the early 21st century and a strong Irish ar- and John Tuomey previously worked at the studio of James Stir- practice is finely tuned to working in these challenging- set a site-specific pavilion for his video installation, Pulp Press, in chitectural culture is being internationally recognized through ling, and the city of London can be cited as a further defining tings and collaborating with international experts, including Norway’s Kistefos sculpture park. Situated on a site of great publications, competitions and awards. Having won the inau- power. ‘London is a city of brick,’ say ODT about their forthcoming Arup and Buro Happold. ‘When you are a young practice, you natural beauty, this restrained concrete pavilion focuses the gural World Architecture Award for Bocconi University Milan, ‘brick sculpture’, the Student Centre at the London School of Eco- need to make up the deficit in experience by working with the view onto Gerrard’s giant paper machine, whose presence Global Dublin-based Grafton Architects were also honoured with a nomics. ‘Although the building is on a tight site, it acts as if free- best consultants you can get,’ explains Róisin Heneghen. once dominated this post-industrial site, while opening vistas Silver Lion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale for their standing,’ explains John Tuomey. A similar device was employed Like Heneghen Peng, one of Ireland’s most established to this Nordic landscape of fir trees and rivers. exhibit, Architecture as New Geography. Following their com- in their Photographers’ Gallery, where a single, tall roof window practices, Scott Tallon Walker, is winning international work While it may be too early to describe a distinct Irish building petition success for a new university campus in Lima, Peru, follows the visitor, Cyclops-like, through Soho’s back streets. This through strategic alliances and specialist expertise. Their in- style, it is the sensitivity of Irish architects to context and, as Grafton Architects turned to the work of the Brazilian architect skill of opening up connections between buildings dates to their ternational portfolio dates back to practice founder Michael islanders, their openness to outside influence that has put Paulo Mendes da Rocha – including his 1970s Serra Dourada regeneration of Dublin’s Temple Bar district (as part of Group 91) Scott’s seminal Irish Pavilion at the 1939 New York World Fair. them on the architectural map of Europe and the world. MARIE-LOUISE HALPENNY MARIE-LOUISE ROS KAVANAGH

3 The Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre by Heneghen Peng is a carefully sculpted intervention into the ridgeline of the North Antrim 3 Scott Tallon Walker Architects were influenced by Bauhaus theories of evolving space and cellular growth when devising the coast, acting as the gateway to this UNESCO World Heritage site. Invisible from the cliff side yet recognizable from the land side, original Carroll’s factory complex in 1970. The project was adapted into an educational campus for Dundalk Institute of Technology the architectural expression echoes the columnar landscape of the Causeway. by the same practice in 2011. A sculpture by Gerda Fromel forms an integral part of building and landscape.

42 A10 # 53 Eurovision: Ireland Eurovision: Ireland A10 # 53 43 Architecture’s green shoots TEXT: LISA CASSIDY

In spite of the mass migration of young Irish architects and having one of Europe’s highest home ownership rates, young graduates in search of work, there are small shoots of hope ap- practices like RKWA – but also Lawrence and Long and ODKM – pearing in the work of new, young practices who are working are often cutting their teeth in extensions and adaptations of ex- within economic constraints and finding supportive clients to isting housing stock. This additive scale of work fosters an ability bring projects to fruition. to working within constraints. In the houses by architect Andrew Long Life House, by Aoibheann Ní Mhearáin, demonstrates Clancy on a disused mountainside quarry in County Wicklow how much can be accomplished within such constraints. The (see Interview in A10 #34), one can see an extremely challeng- project involves reconfiguring a typical 1970s semi-detached ing site translated into generous homes by way of a bold, de- house in Dublin as a bright and open home, adapted to the cisive formal move. In a more suburban setting, architect Cian resident family’s needs. Aoibheann has previously worked with Deegan has recently completed a new house that challenges the ODKM ARCHITECTS ODKM ARCHITECTS Grafton Architects, and as with the current generation of es- constructional orthodoxies of its neighbours with witty detailing www.odkmarchitects.com tablished practices, a sort of family tree continues between the that generates a satisfyingly complex but cosy domestic world. 3 best Irish practices, perhaps inheriting more in sensibility than Young Irish architects are also working internation- in merely aesthetics. In the work of Steve Larkin Architects, ally, for instance, Andrew Griffin, a former partner at JDS in HOUSE EXTENSION, DUBLIN Contemporary extension to a historic house in Ranelagh there is clearly a simultaneous dedication to the poetic and to Copenhagen. Griffin recently returned to Dublin and formed by the young practice ODKM Architects, which occupies Future the practicalities of construction, the same tantalizing duality a new collaborative studio called Urban Agency. The prac- a shop-front office. seen in the architecture of Larkin’s former employers, Donaghy tice, which has dual locations in Copenhagen and Dublin, is + Dimond (see Interview in A10 #10). The stark form of Larkin’s working throughout Europe at scales ranging from domestic rural project at Bog West (see A10 #47), in County Wexford, projects to entire masterplans. MARIE-LOUISE HALPENNY MARIE-LOUISE spatially contemporary and yet incorporating the timeless ef- Architecture graduate Lucy Jones, also formerly of JDS, LAWRENCE AND LONG ARCHITECTS fect of zenithal lighting, won the RIAI’s ‘Best House’ award in has recently completed her first project in Ireland: a domestic www.lawrenceandlong.com the same year he was selected as ‘Best Emerging Practice’. renovation and extension in the Dublin suburbs with a striking 4 The first ‘Best Emerging Practice’ was Ryan W. Kennihan geometric roof in deep ash beams and structural glass, which ARTIST’S STUDIO, SOUTH DUBLIN Architects (RWKA). Kennihan studied at Cornell University and draws upon the form of a fink truss. A 19th-century stone building in the garden of a large house moved to Ireland in 2002, working with Boyd Cody Architects. With so many of Ireland’s young architects and graduates has been adapted into an artist’s studio in the tradition of the garden pavilion. RWKA’s precise, crafted instinct can be seen in projects like the working internationally and some sure to return home, the fu- domestic extension to a historic Dublin house on Sallymount ture may offer unexpected new perspectives on familiar Irish Ireland Terrace, which sets up a conversation between a wholly contem- contexts. In the meantime, there is ample talent in the practices porary brick addition and the existing brick house. With Ireland that manage to take root in spite of the present challenges. ALICE CLANCY

STEVE LARKIN 5 www.stevelarkinarchitects.ie HOUSE AT BOG WEST, CO. WEXFORD This house sits within a walled former farmyard, carefully negotiating levels, privacy and orientation. Ireland ALICE CLANCY ALICE CLANCY

RYAN W. KENNIHAN 1 www.ryanwkennihanarchitects.com SALLYMOUNT TERRACE HOUSE EXTENSION, DUBLIN Future This new extension to a historic house converses with the existing house via formal and material similarities. ALICE CLANCY LUCY JONES

AOIBHEANN NI MHEARÁIN + ANIMA LUCY JONES 6 www.anima.ie 7 www.lucyjones.ie GARDEN ROOM, DUBLIN HOUSE EXTENSION, DUBLIN The project involves reconfiguring a typical 1970s semi-detached House extension by architectural graduate Lucy Jones, who house into a bright and open home. previously worked with the international firm JDS.

ANDREW CLANCY ALICE CLANCY ALICE CLANCY www.clancymoore.com STEPHEN MULHALL CIAN DEEGAN 2 www.nineteeneighty.ie www.taka.ie QUARRY HOUSE, CO. WICKLOW 8 9 Located on a steeply sloping mountain site in Wicklow, two con- joined houses are threaded through existing planting, touching SUBURBAN HOUSE EXTENSION 4HOUSE, CO. DUBLIN the land lightly. Internally, the houses are warm and light-filled, Domestic remodelling by Stephen Mulhall, winner of ʻBest Witty detailing in this new house challenges the constructional ALICE CLANCY knowingly referencing Scandinavian antecedents. Emerging Practiceʼ in the 2013 RIAI Irish Architecture Awards orthodoxies of its suburban neighbours.

44 A10 # 53 Eurovision: Ireland Eurovision: Ireland A10 # 53 45 An approach to making is also being reassessed. Architects such as Andrew Clancy and Sean Fogarty have expanded their Other ways practice to include lighting and furniture design. The influence of crowdsourcing in the design and manufacture of products of practice is a growing trend, evident in the social design platform, Fa- TEXT: MICHAEL HAYES bAllThings, founded by architectural graduates and sisters Emer and Kate O’Daly. Like elsewhere in Europe, the industry of building in Ireland Across the broad spectrum of research themes and meth- has suffered in recent years. Yet it seems that what the country odologies, there is a common desire for an active engagement now lacks in bricks and plasterboard has been replaced by a and sharing of ideas. Perhaps the most symptomatic develop- subtle, more intense, concentration, one that seeks to analyse ment in this regard has been the recent establishment of the perceived realities, critique former habits and practise fresh All Ireland Architecture Research Group (AIARG). Founded in methodologies. Irish architectural culture is investigating 2010, the group’s annual conference (the second of which took

alternative ways of practice. place in 2013) has quickly become a platform for presentation Alternative Commonage, a research and design organization based and exchange, with the added benefit of fostering a culture of in Callan, County Kilkenny, has initiated projects that explore research in architecture. ideas towards local knowledge, participation and accessibility. The connection between architectural research and prac- 4 For their 2012 summer school, three projects focused on a sea- tice is intimately linked in Ireland, as many practitioners are Commonage involved a number of collaborative build- sonal bridge, designs for a system of public access gates, and a actively engaged in research. The RIAI’s ‘3Twenty10 Research’ ing workshops, including cowshed with a rainwater collection system. competition (an initiative by the current RIAI President, a new cowshed, led by the COMMONAGE, BRIAN CREGAN Cowshed Collective. A comparable awareness for participation and place is tan- Michelle Fagan) invited architects to identify solutions to the 3 gible in the expanding sphere of dissemination. Since 2009, darc challenges facing Ireland’s built environment in the aftermath The Commonage Summer School explores the space – Dublin’s dedicated architecture gallery – has hosted ex- of the economic crash. Similarly, the Kevin Kieran Award – idea of building as a collaborative event. Held in the small market town of Callan, Co. Kilkenny, hibitions, talks, lectures, film nights, book launches and other first given in 2003 – is a research prize bestowed by the Arts the 2012 event brought together over 40 people events that promote a wider discussion within architecture. Council and OPW to support emerging practitioners, such as from across Europe collaborating on projects which are firmly rooted in the community. Equally, the Irish Architecture Foundation continues to commu- Grainne Hassett. nicate to a broad public audience through the success of Open Ten years on, and as recognition of the growing depth in House (a concept based on the long-running London event) and this field among its members, the RIAI presented a new Re- fresh ideas such as the recent ‘Architects in Schools’ scheme. The search Award at the 2013 Irish Architecture Awards for innova- Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) is building plat- tive projects like Orla Murphy’s analysis of the contemporary forms for engagement by taking architecture to new audiences, Irish town and Dougal Sheridan’s (LiD) investigation into the Ireland such as Ireland’s National Ploughing Championships – Europe’s utilitarian beauty of the Irish landscape. This year’s winner of largest agricultural exhibition. The Institute also runs a major the RIAI’s ‘Best Emerging Practice’ award, Stephen Mulhall, is national fundraiser every year, which has raised over 350,000 an architect whose work spans different areas, from design euros for the Simon Community, a homeless charity, and re- and building to film-making, writing and research. It is encour- 4 sulted in nearly 5000 meetings between potential clients and aging to see this fresh energy within the Irish architectural dis- Architect Andrew Clancy’s practice has been extended architects, who offer a free consultation in lieu of a donation. course, wherein research and ideas are shared. to lighting design, such as WILLIAMS HENRIETTA COMMONAGE, ʻStrand Lampʼ.

1 ʻRe-Mappingʼ the Midlands, winner in the RIAI ʻ3Twenty10ʼ

Ireland research competition by Jeff Bolhuis, Miriam Delaney and Laurence Lord

4 The Brookfield Youth and Community Centre in Tallaght by Grainne Hassett, a recipient of the Arts Council/OPW’s Kevin Kiernan Award

3 The Irish Architecture Foundation continues to influence a broad public audience through projects such as Open House Dublin, and through their architects in schools programmes, Alternative such as ‘Place Shapers’.

ALICE CLANCY Info www.architecturefoundation.ie

2 Orla Murphy’s analysis of the contemporary Irish town – its origins, recent changes and future strategies – was funded through the Kevin Kiernan Award by the Arts Council/OPW.

3 Dublin Architecture Space 2 (darc space) was established TransColonia by in the offices of Denis Blaithin Quinn Byrne Architects in the midst and Paul Quinn, of Ireland’s building crisis winner in the as a space for exhibitions, RIAI ʻ3Twenty10ʼ discussions, events and new research ideas relating to Ireland’s competition built environment.

46 A10 # 53 Eurovision: Ireland Eurovision: Ireland A10 # 53 47 MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN CHRISTIAN RICHTERS CHRISTIAN ROS KAVANAGH 3 New village centre by Cox Power Architects, Kilmeena, Co. Mayo 3 Dublin Dental Hospital by McCullough Mulvin, Lincoln Place 3 Recasting by Donaghy + Dimond, Dundrum PAUL TIERNEY PAUL

3 Drive-through restaurant by Paul Dillon Architects, Galway City Dublin Dublin PAUL TIERNEY PAUL

3 Ballyroan Library by Box Architecture Ireland ANDREW LEE ENDA CAVANAGH 3 Wexford County Council by Robin Lee Architects, Wexford 3 Flynn Mews House by Lorcan O’Herlihy + ODOS, Pembroke Lane Ireland ALICE CLANCY JOHN SHERIDAN 3 Shangan Housing by FKL architects, Ballymun 3 Butterfly House by LiD Architecture, Co. Sligo Not Dublin ROS KAVANAGH CODY BOYD F22 PHOTOGRAPHY ROS KAVANAGH

3 Crematorium by Magee Creedon Kearns, Cork Harbour 3 €25,000 House by Dominic Stevens Architect, Leitrim 3 Girls Primary School by Mary Laheen Architects, Crumlin 3 House extension by Boyd Cody Architects, Clonskeagh

on the traditional clachan settlement – a cluster of rural dwell- projects continue in the vein of architecture as addition. The facade of a 19th-century coach house in a new residence that Not Dublin / Dublin ings built close together at varying angles, surrounded by fields. most central is the Dublin Dental Hospital by McCullough celebrates the site’s history while also being deeply modern. TEXT: LISA CASSIDY A sense of informality can also be seen in the farmhouse Mulvin, inhabiting ‘forgotten’ rooms in adjoining buildings at In the suburb of Dundrum, Donaghy + Dimond Architects’ ad- addition by Donegal-based LiD Architecture in County Sligo, the edge of Trinity College. The project both emphasizes found dition to a bungalow appears like concrete cast around the creating kitchen and living spaces to envelop the patterns of features and makes contemporary insertions to structure and spaces of domestic life – bright and finished with oak linings. With a population of almost 1.3 million, Dublin is nearly ten everyday family life as well as orienting to the landscape. open the space. While domestic extensions are modest in scale, they can afford times the size of the next-largest Irish city, but going by num- Dominic Stevens, based in the super-rural County Leitrim, Mary Laheen’s Scoil Mhuire Ogh extends an existing prima- potential for experimenting with materiality, as seen in the pro- bers would mean missing out on strong, contemporary work produced an architectural manifesto with the open-source ry school in the south inner city, creating a tactile building in ject by Boyd Cody Architects at Laburnum Road, given an oth- being made across Ireland’s varied contexts. With the growth €25,000 House, which demonstrates an alternative to Ire- timber and concrete that uses openings to add to the richness erworldly sheen by its satin anodized aluminium cladding, or of schools of architecture in Cork, Limerick, and Waterford, in land’s mortgage-dependent notion of housing as well as en- of the interior and create a strong sense of place by a busy road. with structure, as in FKL architects’ A-Rated House, based on a addition to the older two schools in Dublin, and a programme gages with how we live and build. In parallel with the current programme of school construction twisted concrete tube, or in their new Shangan housing project. of capital investment in regional arts buildings and local gov- On Rocky Island in Cork harbour, the Crematorium by Ma- across the country, the 2012 post-primary schools competition Though working with the existing urban fabric is neither new ernment headquarters, such as Robin Lee’s glass-wrapped gee Creedon Kearns inhabits an 18th-century magazine fort run by the RIAI and the Department of Education and Skills fos- nor unique to Dublin, this inherently contextual type of project complex for Wexford County Council, Ireland has benefited to produce a robust, elemental sequence of spaces. Paul Dil- tered debate around the school brief from both the educational encourages considered work, and the process of grafting and from a wide geographical distribution of work. lon Architects took on the more prosaic but common condition and architectural professions. One can hope the upcoming pri- addition has been crucial to the city’s continued recovery from The picturesque landscape offers potency to rural work, and of an edge-of-town roadscape in Galway city with a brief for mary school competition encourages further consideration of decline since the early 1990s. This ‘grafting’ extends even to the Cox Power Architects recognized the fluidity of this context in mixed-use incorporating a drive-through restaurant. contemporary typologies. suburbs, as in Box Architecture's Ballyroan Library. Even with so their new village centre at Kilmeena, County Mayo, by model- In Dublin, a 9th-century Viking settlement that has been On a central mews site, the Flynn Mews House by Los Angeles- few projects underway at present, this work makes a thoughtful, ling the sequence of fourteen houses and a community centre built and rebuilt over a millennium, many of the best recent based Lorcan O’Herlihy, together with ODOS, incorporates the incremental contribution to the next iteration of the city.

48 A10 # 53 Eurovision: Ireland Eurovision: Ireland A10 # 53 49