Rosario

This project involved the refurbishment and extension of a beautiful Victorian house in Dublin. The house had an unusual plan and section with a low return within the back of the house where all the rear rooms open to the garden on one side.

Access to the rear was by way of a narrow corridor down the side the main stairs but there was no sense of the amazing back garden. It’s northern aspect also meant that the garden rooms were dark with the main light to the front of the house.

The young family who moved in wanted a house that was light filled and robust with a mix of old and contemporary that could grow and change as the family did. They loved the garden and space but they felt that the house had almost turned its back on the site.

When considering the new layout, our main focus was to connect the well proportioned rooms in the house from entrance to garden. Entry to the new living spaces to the rear is through the bay windowed front room which opens down into two glass pavilions on the garden side. We used the generous width of the site to create a new courtyard on the south east side to bring light into the kitchen and living spaces. The family living area and dining room open out onto the garden and catch afternoon evening light as well as south light with a lovely glimpse of a majestic oak tree from a high clerestory window. The introduction of a a series of new windows deliver unexpected views and maximise the light around the house.

We left the main house layout largely intact and refurbished the original features and rooms as we found them. The materials in the new extension are pared back to high narrow steel glazing and black steel cladding on both volumes. The focus here is to maximise the view and height. We introduced a modern palette with an emphasis on natural materials such as terrazzo and oak.

We designed the space to be lived in and chose the kitchen, bathrooms, furniture, bespoke built in joinery, lighting down to the art and the planting.

The result is a contemporary design as per our brief but with a carefully orchestrated connection with the existing period features and natural environment.