The building folds itself into the existing grain of the site. It commands attention along Cork Street but sits in harmony with the surrounding domestic scale. The ground floor is a buffer zone. It acts as a transition between public and private space. The library and kitchen are complemented by an adjoining herb garden and allotments. Stepped chimneys create a sense of rhythm along Cork Street. The large openings allow light to bathe the space behind. This open plan living contrasts with the close intimate spaces found within the wall. People congregate on the bridge while others move through it. It serves as a network, a point of connection and a focal point for the residents.

 

Life is embodied in the building. As one  dwells within the wall, life pertains externally. Water flows down the terraces while smoke clouds the external facade. People traverse the building, always moving within the wall.

The wall is an entirely clay structure. Arches are innate in the structure of the brick and have a symbiotic relationship with the wall. The intricate planning of the unitsand their relationship with each other allow for private and protected living spaces within an overall vibrant and community orientated living.

The building has a dual nature, the inner face is heavy, the openings large enough to make comfortable rooms but small enough to ensure privacy – further to promote a feeling of security. The external skin is of a lighter construction, massive brick chimney stacks anchor the floating façade, clad in glass and timber screens. The boiler rooms on the ground floor that produce the hot water for the building are vented halfway up the façade shrouding the building in steam. Again, the building is both weighty yet it recedes and glimmers like the hard edge of a mountain. The central courtyard is an orchard and a kitchen garden, utilized by the ground floor facilities all of which have a civic nature. The program includes a library, a communal kitchen and a workshop. The building steps from Cork Street to Weavers’ Square going from the commercial scale to the domestic scale holding to the grain and the plot of existing houses.

Ormond Street Façade and the Living Wall

Dublin was for much of its existence a medieval city, marked by the existence once of a particular style of building. Built on narrow winding medieval streets, the first major changes to this pattern occurred during the reign of King Charles II when the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Ormonde (later made Duke of Ormonde) issued an instruction which was to have dramatic repercussions for the city as it exists today.

The kitchens, bathrooms and versatile spaces would inhabit the wall at the lower floors of the duplex units and bedrooms, study spaces and bathrooms would occupy it on the upper floors. The stairs was a hanging element in the open living space. The external terraces would be double-height and would face the street. We would be using different kinds/finishes of brick for the different spaces. The general idea was that the smaller the space the lighter the brick. The external bricks were rough and darker compared to the glazed light coloured brick in the bathrooms and kitchens.