House at Palmerston Close
The project involved the reimagination of a 1980’s mews residence located in Rathmines, Dublin. The existing ground floor accommodation comprised of introverted, cellular living and kitchen spaces, which were disconnected from the south-westerly facing garden at the rear of the site.
A building retrofit strategy was prioritised to reconfigure the existing accommodation and provide a new, small-scale mass engineered timber extension that would create overlapping living and kitchen spaces and focus these rooms around the garden. All new elements were designed and detailed to have honest tectonic expression.
Client: Private
Sector: Domestic
Location: Rathmines, Dublin
Status: Completed 2017
Size: 75m²
Quality Over Quantity
A robust glulam timber structure was designed to create the openings between the existing living room and extended kitchen space which contrasts with the Douglas Fir roof structure. The glazed façade is treated as a cloak providing legibility of the structure.
Internally, the spaces are redefined and organised by the insertion of new joinery elements. An oak block is inserted in the hallway which enriches the entrance and circulation areas and is sculpted to contain a new staircase, guest shower room and storage solutions. The kitchen space is subtly sub-divided by a mix of full height and counter height joinery. The irregular walls of the living room are rationalised with the insertion of a new timber storage wall.
Honest Construction
Prioritisation was given to use of natural, low carbon and healthy materials that have a rich self-finished quality, thus eliminating the need for unnecessary building finishes and linings. This approach reduced the embodied carbon of the construction and also creates a legibility of the new interventions and building layers.
We worked in collaboration with experienced timber craftspeople in Ireland and Austria to create the structural timber elements and used renewable FSC certified timber throughout.
The reinvention of this compact, two-bedroom dwelling and garden has transformed how the occupant enjoys and inhabits her home.
Dublin
42 Dawson Street
Dublin 2
Kerry
Fossa, Killarney
Co. Kerry
+353 (0)1 6711400
info@gottsteinarchitects.com
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