West Limerick Children’s Services provides support to children with intellectual, physical or sensory disabilities to promote and improve integration within the local community. The new Children’s Centre is situated within an existing Ability Resource Complex in the town of Newcastle West.

The centre contains therapy rooms for various disciplines, office space, storage and ancillary accommodation. Therapy, consultation and office accommodation are located along an outer ring, served by tall circulation spaces, top lit across their full width, with a core of ancillary functions located at the centre of a deep plan.

The façade, above the perimeter glazing and up to parapet level, establishes a dialogue between the viewer and their surroundings by juxtaposing reflections of the sky on polished aluminium with a view of the natural sky above.

Located in an Architectural Conservation Area on the northern side of Ennis town centre, Ennis Community College occupies a site of approximately 2.5 acres and is bounded by Harmony Row to the south and Sandfield Park Road to the west.

The brief calls for the provision of an additional 4,200 sq.m of secondary school accommodation on this compact urban site in order to cater for an increased school population of 750 students.

The three main elements of the brief, the new classroom block, the PE facility and the general purpose hall are expressed as three distinct volumes of differing height and scale, and with contrasting roof sections, in an aim to provide a variety of spatial experiences in the new interior social and playspaces.

An important design objective has been to convert a site currently dominated by cars, into a pedestrian school campus, while creating a series of sheltered external hard and soft play areas protected from the street.

Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh is a co-educational Irish speaking secondary school founded in Limerick city in 2006. The school has quickly outgrown its current home on Sir Harrys Mall, which has led to the commission for a new school for 750 pupils on the old dairy complex site on Clare Street, adjacent to O’Brien’s Park.

The project creates six distinct classroom blocks including a double height general purpose hall and new PE facility for all formal education spaces. All classroom space is oriented east-west to satisfy department of education and skills regulations on natural daylighting and ventilation, and each has an equal view of the numerous green courtyard spaces.

A wide central circulation spine connects the double loaded classroom blocks along its length and is in continuous contact with green space as it runs from O’Brien’s Park (west) to the external hard play areas to the east. Circulation along this spine is external on first floor, providing fresh air between study periods and affording elevated views of the courtyards and park.

The need to accommodate the particular requirements of one member of a family of five resulted in the commission for this single storey house on a farm in County Limerick. A simple four bedroom house adopts the posture of nearby farmsteads, defining a protected south facing courtyard oriented towards the line of mature trees and the open land behind. Of the additional external spaces, one facilitates sheltered transfer from car to home, while the other provides a sheltered west facing terrace with a view of the neighbouring medieval church and cemetery.

Water ingress from an 1850’s roof valley and a dark deep plan gave rise to the renovation work on this Victorian suburban villa. The project provided an opportunity to rethink the work spaces for the architectural office within, whilst the ephemeral skies of the west of Ireland formed the inspirational driver and specific context for the adopted design solution.

The design creates a new flat roof section into which a mirrored skylight is inserted, stretching from ceiling to ridge line. The result is a reduction in the perceived distance between viewer below and the sky above, together with an augmentation of the viewing experience by way of the juxtaposition of four (and more) reflections of sky with the actual sky above.

The project provides the Benedictine Community with administration and overnight accommodation, refectory and cloisters linking the monastery to the Church. The cloisters create a new courtyard for contemplation and separation. The expression is minimal, with the emphasis on the crafting of materials such as oak, sandstone, glass and concrete. A visitor’s reception facility provides accommodation for public visitors wishing to view the Glenstal icons, church and the unique environment of the Abbey grounds.

The facility is housed within an existing protected structure but includes a new insertion that provides exhibition/entrance hall, dining and a shop facility together with parlour spaces for meetings with the public. The new insertion is separated from the protected structures by glazing to allow an easy reading of the historic buildings. A key element of the project is the separation of public visitors from the daily life of the monastic community and how this might be appropriately expressed.

This project is a proposal for the open competition held by the RIAI for a 1,700 sq.m multidisciplinary community arts centre next to the Grand Canal at Kilbride Park in Tullamore. The project brief includes a 250-seater multi-purpose auditorium; café/bar; flexible-use arts rooms and a public art gallery with adjacent sculpture terrace.

The built footprint forms an arc extending from the existing town edge on O’Connell street to the Grand Canal, with the new centre forming an open relationship with Kilbride Park to the west and a newly formed pedestrian square to the east. Art rooms and workshops are situated closest to the canal, with the new auditorium towards the town and a café at the centre of the scheme.

The Maudlin Street housing development is an urban infill scheme located in the city of Kilkenny. The scheme design adopts the traditional style of housing in the area and relates to the architecture of the existing stone tower.

The traditional materials and finishes of the city have been adopted for this new group of houses, which were inserted into an established urban area. The result respects the historic identity of the place while accentuating its existing character and has been Highly Commended in the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland Medal for Housing.

The church of St. Dominic’s in Athy is unique in Ireland, and has been listed as a protected structure. The most remarkable feature of this building is the curved concrete roof. From whatever side you view this building there is a unity of design in spite of great variation in shapes and colours.

Technically the roof is known as a hyperbolic parabaloid shell roof. The roof spans 45 metres between abutments. The entire shell is tilted so that the highest point is sixty-seven feet above the ground and the total weight is carried on the abutments.

The two fins in the front are mainly to stabilize the roof in high winds. The shape of the roof causes a considerable horizontal thrust at the abutments in a manner similar to an arch. The horizontal thrust was balanced by tying the two abutments together with a prestressed concrete tie beam concealed under the floor.