Architectural Association of Ireland

A R C H I T E C T U R A L
A S S O C I A T I O N
O F
I R E L A N D

A W A R D S . 9 7. 9 8

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Assessors
Recipients
Special Mentions
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A S S E S S O R S

Alberto Campo Baeza . Kevin Kieran . Edward McParland . Esmonde O'Brian . Sheila O'Donnell

R E C I P I E N T S

A W A R D S

axonometric

BAY WINDOW AND STAIRCASE INSERTION
Windsor Terrace, Dublin 4

Gerard Carty

Situated along the Grand Canal in Dublin, 7 Windsor Terrace is a typical two-storey building with return, common to many areas of Dublin. The house, in poor decorative order, did not fully suit the needs of its new owner. The programme required the refurbishment of the house, along with the provision of a new kitchen and dining space, separate internal utility and downstairs wc.
The existing kitchen, situated in the return and accessed under a low half-landing of the original stairs, gave on to a side yard. There was a requirement to seat about fourteen diners at the table on occasions.
The focus of the intervention revolved around the return. It was decided to place the new dining room in this area, with a minimum 5m length clear for the dining table. This involved the partial removal of the chimney breast, and displacing the corner of the existing return in order to allow the dining pavilion to push through to the garden. The floor-to-ceiling glass sliding screens and continuous floor and deck allow the perceived dimesnions of the space to expand to the garden walls. From the front entry door of the house, there now exists a long, uninterrupted view through the house to the trees in the rear garden.

MEWS HOUSE TO HEYTESBURY LANE
Dublin 4

De Blacam and Maegher Architects

The house is located on a narrow mews plot of a late Georgian terrace in Dublin, with an east-west orientation. The constraints of the site did not permit natural light from both party walls. As a result, a top-lit, double height atrium was introduced. Th internal atrium now open three sides of the house to natural light and creates a third facade. This cedar-panelled facade wraps around to the entrance court.

GARDEN ROOM FOR LITTLE BIRD
rear 13 Merrion Square, Dublin 2

Grafton Architects

This garden room occupies the footprint of a demolished shed, and is used as a small dining area for the occupants of the main house. This intervention makes the first space in a sequence of spaces which will connect the main house to the mews and the rear lane. The new walls of terracitta-pigmented plaster form free planes, making a connection between inside and out and stretching back to the main house to include the granite steps in the composition.
Our brief was to make a room which had richness, warmth and light. This project was, for us, an exploration in maximising a sense of space, given the tiny dimensions; making a trong connection between inside and outside space; making a rich environment through the choice of materials and finish; and making a space which has a strong sense of enclosure but is also full of light, be it reflected or direct.

SOFTWARE DESIGN BUILDING
Leoparstown, Co Dublin

McGarry NiEanaigh Architects

The building is within a business park in south County Dublin; the activity is software and silkon design. The long axis of the building is oriented east-west on the site; to the panoramic view of the Dublin Mountains.
The accomodation is organised as a narrow bar (12m depth) of offices on three floors. The form is cranked about an office centre, three-storey entrance hall and lift/stair core building. The nature of the office building is horizontal, serial, angular and fractured; the nature of the core building is smooth, curvilinear and plastic.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

A S S E S S O R S

Alberto Campo Baeza was born in Cadiz, Spain. He studied architecture in Madrid, graduating with a degree in 1971 and a PhD in 1982. His buildings include Fene Town Hall; a library in Orihuela; schools in Cadiz and Madrid; numerous private houses. A bank HQ in Grenada and high-tech offices in Mallorca are currently under construction. He has taught and lectured widely. His work has been exhibited and published internationally, including a book of collected writings, The Built Idea, and a monograph, Campo Baeza, 1971-1996.

Kevin Kieran graduated as an architect from University College Dublin. He studied at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, graduating with an MArch degree. From 1985 he lectured at Harvard, where he was appointed Associate Professor and Director of the Architecture Programmes. He has also lectured at other schools in the US. For a number of years he was in practice in Cambridge, Mass. In 1997 he returned to Ireland as Architecture Consultant to the Arts Council. He is currently teaching at UCD and is in practice in Dublin.

Edward McParland was born in Dublin in 1943. After studying architecture in UCD (for 6 weeks), he took up mathematics. He studied the history of art in Cambridge, returning in 1973 to lecture in the Dept of the History of Art in Trinity College Dublin, a post he still holds. His book, James Gandon, was published in 1985. He was co-founder, with Nicholas Robinson, of the Irish Architectural Archive. He is on the Committee of Management of the Irish Georgian Foundation, and is a dirctor of the Irish Landmark Trust.

Esmonde O'Brian (b. 1964) graduated from University College Dublin in 1988. He worked in London with Loelter Kim, and in London and Stuttgart with Stirling Wilford. On returning to Dublin in 1992, he worked with Derek Tynan Architects. In 1995 he established O'Brian O'Donnell Architects. He has been a visiting critic to final year at DIT, Bolton Street since 1996.

Sheila O'Donnell is a graduate of UCD and the RCA, London. She set up in partnership in Dublin with John Tuomey in 1988. Their work has been widely published, and they have won many awards, including the AAI Downes Medal in 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1997. She teaches regularly in UCD, and is a visiting critic and external examiner in schools in Britain and the US. She was a founder member of Group 91, the city Architecture Studio, and the Blue Studio architecture gallery. She is currently working on educational and cultural buildings.

ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND AWARDS 13

The AAI Awards were established in 1986 as "an annual award scheme for excellence in architectural design". The intentions of the Awards are:

to encourage higher standards of architecture throughout the country
to recognise projects which make a contribution to Irish architecture
to inform the public of emerging directions in contemporary architecture

The Awards are open to architects practising in Ireland and Irish architects practising in their own right abroad, submitting current projects and buildings.

Entries are judged by a panel of five assessors - a foreign assessor, two invited Irish assessors, a representative of the previous year's Award winners, and a distinguished non-architect. This year's foreign assessor was Alberto Campo Baeza.

The results are exhibited and published annually as New Irish Architecture. The publication contains assessors' commentary as well as more extensive project descriptions than listed above. Volumes 8, 9, 11 and 12 are available in bookshops or direct from Gandon Editions.

To see last year's awards results, click here

. INDEX . LECTURES + EVENTS . ARCHIVE . LINKS .

R E C I P I E N T S
A W A R D S
	BAY WINDOW AND STAIRCASE INSERTION Windsor Terrace, Dublin 4 Gerard Carty Situated along the Grand Canal in Dublin, 7 Windsor Terrace is a typical two-storey building with return, common to many areas of Dublin. The house, in poor decorative order, did not fully suit the needs of its new owner. The programme required the refurbishment of the house, along with the provision of a new kitchen and dining space, separate internal utility and downstairs wc. The existing kitchen, situated in the return and accessed under a low half-landing of the original stairs, gave on to a side yard. There was a requirement to seat about fourteen diners at the table on occasions. The focus of the intervention revolved around the return. It was decided to place the new dining room in this area, with a minimum 5m length clear for the dining table. This involved the partial removal of the chimney breast, and displacing the corner of the existing return in order to allow the dining pavilion to push through to the garden. The floor-to-ceiling glass sliding screens and continuous floor and deck allow the perceived dimesnions of the space to expand to the garden walls. From the front entry door of the house, there now exists a long, uninterrupted view through the house to the trees in the rear garden.

	MEWS HOUSE TO HEYTESBURY LANE Dublin 4 De Blacam and Maegher Architects The house is located on a narrow mews plot of a late Georgian terrace in Dublin, with an east-west orientation. The constraints of the site did not permit natural light from both party walls. As a result, a top-lit, double height atrium was introduced. Th internal atrium now open three sides of the house to natural light and creates a third facade. This cedar-panelled facade wraps around to the entrance court.
	GARDEN ROOM FOR LITTLE BIRD rear 13 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 Grafton Architects This garden room occupies the footprint of a demolished shed, and is used as a small dining area for the occupants of the main house. This intervention makes the first space in a sequence of spaces which will connect the main house to the mews and the rear lane. The new walls of terracitta-pigmented plaster form free planes, making a connection between inside and out and stretching back to the main house to include the granite steps in the composition. Our brief was to make a room which had richness, warmth and light. This project was, for us, an exploration in maximising a sense of space, given the tiny dimensions; making a trong connection between inside and outside space; making a rich environment through the choice of materials and finish; and making a space which has a strong sense of enclosure but is also full of light, be it reflected or direct.
	SOFTWARE DESIGN BUILDING Leoparstown, Co Dublin McGarry NiEanaigh Architects The building is within a business park in south County Dublin; the activity is software and silkon design. The long axis of the building is oriented east-west on the site; to the panoramic view of the Dublin Mountains. The accomodation is organised as a narrow bar (12m depth) of offices on three floors. The form is cranked about an office centre, three-storey entrance hall and lift/stair core building. The nature of the office building is horizontal, serial, angular and fractured; the nature of the core building is smooth, curvilinear and plastic.
	SPECIAL MENTIONS