Contact Us

We would love to hear from you about your intended project.

Use the form on the right to contact SPACIOUS about an initial consultation or email us at:  hello@spacious.ie

 

54 George's Street Lower
Dublin, County Dublin,
Ireland

01 5585205

Award Wining Architects based in Monkstown, Co.Dublin and working in all surrounding counties.

Specialising in sensitive contemporary design for domestic extensions, renovations, new-build houses and interior design.  We also design and build custom joinery.

RIAI registered architects, project managers & interior designers

Dublin Architecture Blog

Hofler Architects Dublin  - Our Blog of our news and views.

Simon Open Door Consultations 2017

Paul Mulhern

We took part in the 2017 Simon Open Door Consultations last weekend and are delighted that our donated time and expertise raised precisely €1,080 for the homeless charity. 

Over the lifetime of the annual open door events over €700,000 has been raised for the Simon Communities of Ireland.   Simon Open Door is a fantastic scheme. It benefits both the Simon Communities of Ireland and members of the public. Anyone can sign up and in return for a €90 donation to Simon receive an hour long consultation with a certified RIAI Architect.

This year we did 12 architectural consultations for homeowners who were considering various projects including home remodelling and renovation; house extensions to increase space, bring in more light and connect more fully with their gardens, and a number of proposed new-build houses.  It was interesting and exciting for us all to discuss potential, especially where the homeowners had been previously concerned that they had limited options.

We got fantastic feedback from everyone who attended about the information they got on everything from design potential to planning matters, building costs and the whole process involved in embarking on a building project with an architect.

Since 2005, the Simon Open Door initiative has been a permanent fixture in the calendar of RIAI Architects who, open their offices and offer their time and expertise to members of the public. Every cent raised goes toward's the work of the Simon Communities of Ireland.

SPACIOUS

T: 01-5585205

M: 089 2447264

 

New One Off House Design - Rural Co. Wicklow

Paul Mulhern

We have recently completed designs for a new one-off rural family dwelling to be sited in a designated "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" in Co. Wicklow.  The client's have established local needs as they run a business in the immediate area.  The designs have been prepared to be highly site and context specific, to take full account of the stringent planning requirements for such an area and to respond fully to the local authority's rural design guidance for planning applications.

 

House design

The high quality design of the proposed house has been developed with detailed consideration of the site, its rural context, the adjoining houses and minimizing its impact on the environment (visual and sustainable).

The linear form of the single storey house is broken and stepped slightly approximately one third along its length.  This step in the elevation and roof differentiates between the living and sleeping areas of the house.  It allows for the simple modeling of the form to produce two different roof planes and a differing plane in the front elevation, thereby reducing scale.

The single-room depth of the main part of the house has been incorporated to ensure that the roof mass and ridge heights have been minimized.  This form also results in carefully proportioned gables to both ends that are in keeping with traditional rural vernacular buildings.  This language is combined and balanced with highly considered and subtle contemporary detailing.

The narrow plan depth allows maximum sun, daylight and natural ventilation penetration.  Bedrooms are positioned where they will receive sunlight in the morning and living spaces are arranged to receive light throughout the day and evening and benefit from views.

The main entry to the house is located between the front linear volume and the rear volume of the family lounge.  This positioning responds to the existing entry driveway and allows the avoidance of a suburban form of dwelling - where entry and parking are usually located to the front.  The front of this house will be characterized by natural landscaping consisting of meadow grasses, wild flowers, native trees and hedgerow, and the existing stone/earth berm to the boundary.

The family lounge room takes on a more contemporary form with its zinc roof sloping up towards the west.  It is entirely screened to the rear of the more traditional main volume.  It is also set back from the gable end of the Living/Dining/Kitchen room and leads out to a sheltered and semi-enclosed outdoor space.

The main roof areas of the house (including the rear return) are to be double-pitched with high quality natural slate (blue/black) at 35 degrees.  The lounge room roof is to be monopitch with natural standing seam zinc at a slope of 15 degrees.  Solar panels are not proposed as our preliminary BER assessment concludes that an air-to-water heat pump will provide a more suitable means of reducing primary energy consumption.  This means that the slate roof slopes can be kept free of less visually appealing equipment installation.

Materials and windows have been carefully selected and detailed for the location.  All main elevations (front and gable ends) are to be faced with coursed rubble granite stone, which will be largely, or entirely taken from stone already piled on the adjoining land.  The heavy, solid walls will tie the house to its site.  Window and door openings have been proportioned and spaced to respect the required solid-to-void ratios typical of load-bearing stone walls.

 Materials specified include:

·      Coursed rubble stone walls

·      Stone lintels and sills

·      Blue/black natural slate

·      Mill-finished alu. gutters – vernacular detailing.

·      Alu-clad timber windows

·      Standing seam zinc roofing / fascia

·      Off-white self-coloured render

·      Low stone walls

·      Vertical self-coloured cladding boards (family lounge)

 These materials have been chosen for their appropriate visual appearance and also because they will weather and age gracefully over time.

Download Wicklow C.C. Rural Design Guide here.

Contact us with your queries relating to building new dwelling or extending in rural and high amenity areas.

 

Planning Granted for Sunday Well House, Lucan

Paul Mulhern

We have recently secured planning permission from Fingal County Council for a two-storey detached, five-bedroom house at Sunday Well, Barnhill Cross Road, Lucan, Co. Dublin on behalf of private clients in association with Future Analytics Consulting.

The site is located to the north of the River Liffey in a stunning sylvan setting at the foot of wooded escarpment, allowing the dwelling to comfortably nestle within the Liffey valley landscape.

The site is located within Zoning Objective “HA” (High Amenity) of the Fingal Development Plan 2011-2017 which seeks to protect and enhance high amenity areas. This translates to a constrictive procedural policy context for development proposals.

Building on previous permission for demolition of an existing dwelling, the consenting strategy incorporated amendments to the previously approved scheme and construction of a replacement two-storey detached 478sqm five-bedroom house, a 37.5sqm relocated garage, revised elevational detail, and changes to landscaping with ancillary development works.

Our role was to prepare designs for a large family dwelling of traditional form with subtle contemporary detailing and the highest quality materials and finishes.  The proposals respond to the client's extensive accommodation brief and the highly sensitive nature of the site by minimising visual impact and placing all rooms to maximise views towards the river and carefully consider orientation.  The house will be built to A2 ("Nearly Zero Energy") standards.

The work involved:

  • Development of client's brief
  • Site assessment and analysis
  • House design and preparation of planning application drawings
  • Coordination with planning consultant
  • Flood risk assessment in conjunction with specialist consultant
  • Landscape design in conjunction with Landscape Design Services.
  • Preparation of Visual Assessment study for High Amenity area in conjunction with Landscape Design Services.

We are now progressing with a construction drawings and specification package to take the project to tender stage and construction on site.

The house was designed by Paul Mulhern, Architect, MRIAI.

Proposed Ground Floor Plan - Click to Enlarge.

Proposed First Floor Plan - Click to Enlarge.

The worlds most beautiful mid-century furniture...

Paul Mulhern

...in a stunning historic home.

One of the worlds most enviable collections of mid-century furniture - a living museum in the residence of Knud Erik Hansen, managing director of Carl Hansen & Søn and grandson of the company's iconic founder.  Hansen has transformed this impressive Danish estate into a comfortable family home, filling it with stunning furniture and preserving the old property’s charm.

The Monocle Guide to Cosy Homes visits the residence of the managing director of Carl Hansen & Søn and grandson of the company's iconic founder. Hansen has transformed an impressive Danish estate into a comfortable family home, filling it with beautiful furniture and preserving the property’s charm. Published by Gestalten, 

Most architecture books and magazines show houses that are overly polished to perfection and manicured to the extent that it is hard to imagine anybody actually lives there - especially families with children.  We think they seem to miss the point that homes are meant to be inhabited, not just published.  Why does this happen?

This home appeals to our sensibilities and belief that a home represents an ongoing story of a family and as such should respond to and accommodate that life and all that it entails.  It also appeals because of our experiences of having worked on many beautiful old and protected structure houses that require careful conservation along with the skills to sensitively remodel, renovate and extend, to create comfortable and accomodating homes for modern family life.

Contact us: SPACIOUS

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