Dublin City Council is pleased to announce that three buildings that it commissioned have won awards at the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) annual Irish Architecture Awards ceremony. The awards recognise excellence in architectural design and are made both to the designers and to the commissioning clients.
In all, some 17 projects right across Ireland were honoured and Dublin City Council won Awards under the following categories:
- Best Sustainable Building - York Street Housing, by Sean Harrington Architects for DCC
- Best Housing - The Timberyard housing scheme in Cork Street, Dublin 8, by O'Donnell Tuomey Architects for DCC, and
- Best Leisure Building - Ballyfermot Leisure Centre, designed by McGarry Ní Éanaigh Architects for DCC.
The Awards were presented by John Gormley TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government at the event, which took place in The Cow Shed Theatre, Farmleigh in Dublin's Phoenix Park.
According to Dublin’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Emer Costello, “I’m sure residents of these housing schemes are enjoying the benefits of living in their award winning houses and wish them well. Likewise I’m sure the users of the leisure centre will benefit from the state of the art facility. Dublin City Council is clearly committed to improving peoples standard of living and quality of life with these facilities.”
Speaking after the Awards ceremony Ali Grehan, City Architect said “Dublin City Council has always been very proud of the quality of its housing developments and these two recent examples continue to set exemplary standards. The Ballyfermot Leisure Centre is part of a wider strategy to provide a necklace of civic and leisure facilities around the city. The building at Ballyfermot, in addition to being a stunning piece of design provides invaluable recreation and social facilities for the neighbourhood”.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor:
Ballyfermot Leisure Centre can be visited during its normal opening hours. For information click here
Useful link: http://www.irisharchitectureawards.ie/2009/
Ballyfermot Leisure Centre; Project: Ballyfermot Leisure & Youth Centre Project : Architect: McGarry Ni Eanaigh Architects
The primary aim for this development was to consolidate the public domain placing two buildings around a new public space and forming a new entrance into the park. Different expectations between the two buildings determined a large scaled public building for all ages in the leisure centre with the youth centre being directed at a teenage audience with a more intensely packed brief. The gestures in the leisure centre are sweeping, operating at the scale of a sports hall, whereas, the youth centre has a smaller scale design.
Timberyard Social Housing : Architect: O'Donnell & Tuomey Architects
The development consists of a new housing scheme comprising of 47 dwellings and a street level community facility in the historic Liberties area of Dublin. The project was generated by the construction of the Coombe By Pass. A backland site was opened up and the urban design requirement was for a new street frontage to heal the wounds caused by the road engineering operation. The design centres on a new public space on the site of a former timber yard, making a residential enclave with a sense of place.
Project: York Street Social Housing : Architect: Seán Harrington Architects
Working closely with the local community, we have designed 66 apartments, a community centre and a crèche in Dublin city centre near St. Stephens Green.
Based on ecological design principles, the building is designed to benefit from controlled passive solar gain using glazed winter gardens and solar thermal roof panels. It also has an energy-efficient communal heating system, high levels of insulation and sedum green roofs. Rainwater from the roofs is collected and stored to irrigate the garden and allotments, and to use for car washing.
We have placed great emphasis on communal facilities, such as community meeting rooms, a shared garden, a children’s play area, and recycling facilities including a communal waste composter.
There are a total of 17 three-bed, 29 two-bed and 20 one-bed homes using a large variety of different dwelling types. Most of the apartments are either dual or corner aspect with many having dual aspect living spaces. The communal garden has been designed in consultation with the residents; two roof terraces complement this for residents.