GREEN-DOOR WEEKEND 28 th -30 th AUGUST 2015 www.inspirationalhomes.ie HOW IT WORKS Homes and buildings are open for the times stated and you are welcome to visit when - Tips for the weekend ever it suits you during those times. Please TOP TIP - Please read this programme do NOT arrive earlier than the opening carefully, check the dates, day & times of time as homeowners will be busy getting the events and plan your weekend ahead. ready for their day ahead. If the house you visit is busy, you will be asked to wait PLAN YOUR DAYS until some people have left. Booking: All architect tours, bus and cycle • First decide if there is a tour or workshop tours and workshops must be pre-booked on that you would like to go on and book it. our website (click on the events page). Other Then plan your day around it. Think about events can also be pre-booked online and, which other buildings that interest you as places are often limited, it is advised to do are nearby. so. See the Debate , the Film Night and the • If you are not going on a tour - make up Children’s Workshops . The weekend is your planned tour for the day. mainly free although there is a small charge • Don’t try to visit too many places. You need for some events to cover the costs. to allow plenty of time to get the most out of your visit. Take this opportunity to have a guided • Most homes have 15 - 30 mins drive tour by the architect of a public building. between them. Gabriel Toolan and Colin Bell will be • Drive safely, country roads are narrow. giving a tour of the office (LMS07) Please park responsibly. on Friday 27 th August from 1pm to 2pm. There will be a guided tour of the FINDING YOUR WAY Agriculture and Fisheries Board This is not always easy. Each home has direc - building (LMS06) on Saturday 29 th tions and the GPS coordinates. We also have August at 3pm and Eamon McCarney some signs up, however the budget does not will be talking at the North West allow for one at every corner. SO PLEASE DO Health Board building (LMN07) CHECK OUT THE ONLINE MAPS beforehand Saturday 29 th August at 5.30pm. and print them off if you think you will need them. www.inspirationalhomes.ie/green-door-map.html For your interest, this year we have included the icons below to highlight homes with rainwater harvesting , gardens of interest and artist studios . Full details of each property can be found on our website www.inspirationalhomes.ie INTRODUCTION Welcome to our third Green-Door weekend, staged and co-ordinated by Inspirationa l Homes. After the overwhelming response to the success of our previous festivals of rural architecture and design , we are delighted to be able to run again this year. The aim of the weekend is to stimulate and promote discussion amongst ourselves, about sustainable living and building in the countryside. We are all acutely aware of our responsibility to the environment and all of these homeowners demonstrate this through their choice of building materials, design, technologies and ways of life. This is our chance to see for ourselves what works – and also sometimes, what does not. Many of these structures are experiments in sustainability; others are statements in themselves - combining the modern and the rural. They are at the forefront of creative, modern and sustainable building in Ireland and best of all, the owners are all willing to share their homes and their experiences with us. Green-Door weekend is an amazing opportunity to meet, chat and network with self-builders, architects and the owners and residents of these diverse and inspirational buildings. SL01 LMN30 FER01 We have a number of new homes and buildings this year, all very different to each other, and all offering something unique and we have also expanded our area to include parts of Co. Sligo and Co. Fermanagh. Also new are the workshops running on the Saturday for those of you who would like to experience some more hands-on time. We have a weekend programme packed with activities to compliment the open homes; this includes exhibitions, workshops, talks, a film night and children’s activities. Please note that: With so much on, I urge you to read the programme carefully and to plan your weekend ahead. The homeowners are proud of what they have and are keen to share their successes and inspirations with a wider audience. This is what the Green-Door weekend can do. We hope this weekend will inspire you too. Jo Lewis, project manager www.inspirationalhomes.ie 1 GREEN-DOOR WEEKEND DIARY Saturday 22 nd August 1pm TALK ‘Learning from The Organic Centre Building’ P.4 by Colin Bell, The Organic Centre , Rossinver Thursday 27 th August 10am-5pm EXHIBITION Positive Planning & Design in Leitrim, The Dock P.5 8.30-10pm TALK Bats, Birds & buildings by Will Woodrow (LMN29) P.5 Friday 28 th August 11am - 3pm TOUR The Crest Centre , Enniskillen P.6 12.30-1.30pm TOUR Gabriel Toolan Office (LMS07) tour by P.7 Gabriel Toolan and architect Colin Bell 7pm LAUNCH Reception and Launch of the weekend at P.10 The Dock , Carrick-on-Shannon 7.30-10pm DEBATE ‘Thinking and Doing in the Rural’ with a keynote P.10 speech from Prof. Dr. Pieter Versteegh and contributions from Claire MacManus and Javier Burón, Chaired by Nathalie Weadick Saturday 29 th August HOMES AND BUILDINGS IN SOUTH LEITRIM OPEN TO THE PUBLIC P.20-28 with homeowners, architects and builders on-hand 10am-1pm TOUR Bus Tour from The Dock , Carrick-on-Shannon P.13 10am-5pm EXHIBITION Anna Macleod, The Dock , Carrick-on-Shannon P.12 10am-5pm EXHIBITION ‘Through the Green-Door’ iDoc by Róisín P.9 Loughrey, The Dock , Carrick-on-Shannon 10am-1pm WORKSHOP The Eco-Building Experience , Leitrim Village P.14 10.30am-1.30pm WORKSHOP ‘At Home Course’ with Mairéad and Rob (LMN17) P.13 1-2.30pm CHILDREN’S WORKSHOP The Dock , Carrick-on-Shannon P.12 1-2pm TALK ‘Rainwater Harvesting’ The Dock P.12 2 www.inspirationalhomes.ie GREEN-DOOR WEEKEND DIARY Saturday 29 th August (continued...) 2.30-4.30pm TOUR Bus Tour from The Dock , Carrick-on-Shannon P.13 2-3pm TALK Artist’s Talk, The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon P.12 2-5pm WORKSHOP FABLAB Manorhamilton P.15 2.30-5pm WORKSHOP Sheltermaker Theatre , Leitrim Village P.14 3-4pm TOUR Agriculture, Food and Fisheries Building (LMS06) P.22 5.30-7pm TOUR Tour of LMN07 by Eamon McCarney P.17 8-10pm FILM NIGHT ‘Citizen Architect’ and Discussion afterwards , P.16 The Glens Centre , Manorhamilton Sunday 30 th August HOMES AND BUILDINGS IN NORTH LEITRIM OPEN TO THE PUBLIC P.29-45 with homeowners, architects and builders on-hand HOMES AND BUILDINGS IN SLIGO OPEN TO THE PUBLIC P.46-53 with homeowners, architects and builders on-hand 11am TOUR BICYCLE & BUS TOURS , Dromahair P.19 11am-5pm EXHIBITION Anna Macleod , Leitrim Sculpture Centre P.18 11am-5pm EXHIBITION ‘Through the Green-Door’ iDoc by Róisín Loughrey, P.9 Leitrim Sculpture Centre 11am-5pm POP UP CAFE Leitrim Sculpture Centre , Manorhamilton P.18 12-4.30pm DEMONSTRATIONS FABLAB Manorhamilton P.15 1-2pm TALK ‘Save water charges - harvest rainwater’, P.4 by Ollan Herr, The Organic Centre , Rossinver 2-3.30pm CHILDREN’S WORKSHOP, Leitrim Sculpture Centre P.18 2.30pm TOUR BICYCLE & BUS TOURS , Dromahair P.19 6pm CLOSING Leitrim Sculpture Centre , tea, coffee and P.18 beer gathering and thanks www.inspirationalhomes.ie 3 EVENTS AT THE ORGANIC CENTRE Saturday 22 nd August - 1pm LUNCHTIME TALK by Colin Bell (FREE) “Learning from The Organic Centre Building” “The Good, the Bad and the U-nique features” Colin Bell gives a performance review of the OC building. He will explain the rationale behind his original design and will discuss the changes that have been made over the years. Looking back, Colin will also reflect on how he would design the building today. WEEKEND COURSES AT THE OC Saturday 22 nd August & Sunday 23 rd August 10am - 5pm “Building a Cob Oven” €130 (ex. lunch, Grassroof Café open) with Colin Ritchie and Feile Butler from ‘mudandwood’ On this 2 day course, learn where to find soil for building projects, how to analyse it and how to turn it into a viable building material. Participants will learn the traditional technique for foot-mixing cob (earth and straw). Then we will go on to build a cob pizza oven in the garden of The Organic Centre. This is a very practical hands-on course taking place outdoors. Bring good waterproof clothes and footwear. Clothes/footwear will get muddy. Saturday 22 nd August & Sunday 23 rd August 10am - 5pm “Bent Willow Furniture Workshop ” €130 (ex. lunch) with Tom O’Brien Bent-Willow Furniture, an early American craft was a familiar sight on the porches of America until the 1930's, when modern factory-built furniture took over. On this course you will learn all the skills necessary to construct your own chair and how to adapt the skills to other furniture projects. Limited places available! Book online www.theorganiccentre.ie or call 071 985 4338. Sunday 30 th August - 1pm LUNCHTIME TALK by Ollan Herr: “Save water charges - harvest rainwater ” (FREE) Ollan will give an overview of the methods and the natural technologies to be used to avoid the dependence on mains water supply by capturing rain water.