In 2018 our clients took part in the Simon Open Door initiative and booked a consultation with us. Shortly after that, they engaged with us to design their new family house. They have a beautiful site on family land near Dungarvan in Co. Waterford. The site is located on a steep southern exposed slope and provides scenic views, overlooking the Dungarvan valley. As the project program was quite extensive, we wanted to avoid the building looking too bulky; therefore, we decided to design the house using three, almost free-standing, single-story and very simple building forms. Each of the three forms/segments has its own specific function. The first form contains the kitchen, dining room and living room. This space has an open vaulted ceiling giving the area an open and spacious atmosphere. There are large, sliding doors, which open from the sitting room out onto a patio. Due to the earlier mentioned sloped site, the patio had to be elevated from the ground level, creating a terrace. This worked out to everyone’s advantage, as of the stunning views of the countryside were even better observed from the raised platform. The second, more private segment consists of all the bedrooms. Finally, the third segment accommodates facilities such as the guest bedroom/ TV room with an en suite and a utility/storage/plant room. All three parts of the house are interconnected by the main entrance hall, situated below a flat roof. Each of the windows in the house is designed to capture a specific view. These ‘picture windows’ allow natural light to enter the internal spaces while framing distinctive scenery. The whole building is very well insulated and airtight to maximize its thermal performance and sustainability.
Charcoal timber cladding and a white render exterior come together along with a dark, natural slate roof to create an outstanding and contemporary house that has a positive contribution to its surroundings.