The diminutive Protected Structure c.1910, is located on a key corner of the Port Lands at Alexandra Road & East Wall Road, the western bookend of Port Centre’s Corten Turnstile Gates. This location represents the place where the sea met the land until the eastward development of the Port began in the late 18th Century. The scheme currently under construction aims to refurbish the Substation and extend the volume with a contrasting taut glazed box of similar proportions as part of Dublin Port’s Distributed Museums & performance spaces. The original seawall has been excavated within the Substation footprint and will become a permanent display below a glass floor.
This project was carried in association with conservation consultants during all project stages
Savvi ‘s flagship branch (previously known as St. Patrick’s Credit Union) is banking reimagined. This open facility has been conceptually developed to contain many of the credit unions services within one unit. Darmody Architecture proposed a renewed environment that is centred on connecting the Credit Union with existing and emerging communities for a new way of banking and working. Bespoke furnishings and the co-ordination of extensive M&E requirements within an existing building forms a vibrant open plan office with opportunities to conduct business at the kitchen table or private acoustic booths.
In an effort to avoid ambiguity and ensure a positive experience for all, the sequence of spaces within the unit starts at the main entrance where a meet and greet desk (off axis) greets the public. Through the application of select finishes this area expresses the ethos and new identity of the Credit Union – Banking without banks.
Darmody Architecture led a specialist design team to develop a detailed design to form a link between No. 3 Camden Row and the existing pub at No. 92 Camden Street. This provided new external amenity spaces whilst respecting and enhancing the existing protected structures set within an Architectural Conservation Area. Analysis of the existing structure and research into the building’s history led to the uncovering of the remains of the original 1880s shopfront structure buried beneath a 1980s soulless façade. Restoration of the decorated structural columns and Kilkenny limestone cladding began. A team of specialist contractors worked to restore and craft the public house façade to replicate the original Victorian shopfront. The project reinstated the original gravitas of a pivotal, corner building on Camden Street, Dublin 2. The building now enjoys completeness as originally intended.
Highly Commended Uncovered Façade RIAI Awards 2020
This project was carried in association with conservation consultants during all project stages
The proposed interventions into the built fabric and landscape of Howth Castle seek to enhance it as a destination location providing leisure, food and cultural experience, whilst ensuring the setting and character of the protected structures and landscape features are maintained.
Interventions to the original fabric of the buildings seek to restore and safeguard the existing structures while a series of new proposals in the built landscape will complement and enhance the historical setting. A proposed new pavilion within the existing stable yard will ensure its continued use throughout the year and provide an injection of interest into the under-utilized space.
An exciting series of new landscape interventions seek to restore the original layouts of the castle grounds which have become overgrown and illegible over time. A proposed new greenway running through the site, was well as improved connections and facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and car users alike, will also greatly improve the visitor experience to the castle.
This project was carried in association with conservation consultants during all project stages
The concept was to develop a broad range of office and business unit types on a single campus settled between Wicklow town and the village of Rathnew. The series of flexible building types allowed for a broad range of end users from 100sqm to 5,000 sqm. The initial phase was completed and occupied followed by Phase 2 which was of a higher density with greater profile. The entire scheme was settled in a considered landscape environment.
Darmody Architecture delivered a new entrance to the Mespil Hotel to give a sense of arrival and gravitas commensurate with the Mespil Hotel experience, ensuring a visual portal to the hotel with appropriate branding. The structure now presents a welcoming feature aligned with the statue of the hotel, delivering an entrance which celebrates the romance of the hotel experience. As the scale of the existing building demanded a strong visual element a continuous curved canopy was generated with columns of bronze, and backlight onyx stone framing the doorways. A back element was softly light with star burst lights to the soffit and further articulated with a framed bronze ceiling lattice. Its final composition robustly rests to the north elevation creating the lasting threshold to the Mespil Hotel which it so desperately desired.
Darmody Architecture was the sole Irish architects practice to be selected from a list of 130 practices in a competition to design a new arts centre for Carlow Town. The brief was to design a centre of contemporary arts which included three significant exhibition spaces, artist studios, a 200-seat auditorium and an information centre together with a cafe and restaurant. The solution involved the creation of a singular glazed building volume which would articulate the uses within.
Situated on a sensitive site on the banks of Oakport Lough on the River Shannon at Cootehill, the National Association of Housing for the Visually Impaired (NAHVI) required a retreat centre on the site for visually impaired children. The brief dictated a building of over 500sqm, however the sensitive setting prohibited a monolithic structure of such scale. The solution lay in shifting some of the building underground into an existing hillock on the site with the remainder being dispersed as a cluster of vernacular agricultural forms. The result was a naturally light and intimate cluster of connected forms.
The vaults within the CHQ building are now home to Dogpatch. Conservation was the driving force of the process, playing a central role in delivering the finished work re-imagining the 200-year-old vaults as a perfect solution for today’s start up scene. The vaults represented their own challenge in working in such a unique environment. Great care was taken by the design team to retain the dignity and character of the historic fabric. Historically used for storing wine and whiskey and designed as part of the original building by Sir John Rennie in the early 19th century, the vaults at Dogpatch Labs now house contemporary meeting rooms, work stations and events space.
The assembly and lecture rooms in St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin remained unchanged for decades and fell short of the requirements of a modern teaching environment. There were issues in terms of the acoustic qualities, functionality, dividing screens, aesthetics, quality of light and servicing requirements. Darmody Architecture were tasked with bringing the facility up to modern standards reflective of the contemporary needs of the College.
Darmody Architecture were retained to explore the “short comings” of the space and to identify a strategy for upgrading the spaces and fabric to a modern 21st century standard with compromising the integrity of the original Andy Devan designed structure.
