Ros Kavanagh.

Rear facade

Rear facade

Entrance hall

Entrance hall

Living area

Living area

Living area

Living area

Front facade

Front facade

Close up of front facade

Close up of front facade

view of kitchen area

view of kitchen area

Living area

Living area

Landing

Landing

Bedroom

Bedroom

Front facade

Front facade

Open House

Open House, designed by John McLoughlin Architects.  Photographed some years after its completion.  Text by architect follows:

This is a medium-sized house in a walled garden. Beyond the walls are mature trees. The owners wished to have a bright warm house that would open into a garden expanding the sense of space and making the garden and patio feel like extensions to the house. They also wanted their children to be able to play inside or outside according to the weather.

The design approach was to provide open flexible space at ground level with bedrooms and bathrooms above. The ground floor has sliding timber-framed glass screens separating the inside and outside which open easily to connect the two. There are also sliding glazed screens internally so that the whole ground floor can open into one big room. Services and storage are accommodated in a thick wall along one side of the house. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs.

The house is constructed with a timber structural frame, timber-framed glass screens, and timber cladding. This type of construction provides high levels of insulation to compensate for the large glazed areas. There is under-floor heating in the stone ground-floor that keeps the house at a constant temperature all year round.