York Street, Dublin

Client; Dublin City Council
Completed December 2008

Working closely with the local community, we have designed 66 apartments, a community centre and a crèche in Dublin city centre near St. Stephens Green.

Based on ecological design principles, the building is designed to benefit from controlled passive solar gain using glazed winter gardens and solar thermal roof panels. It also has an energy-efficient communal heating system, high levels of insulation and sedum green roofs. Rainwater from the roofs is collected and stored to irrigate the garden and allotments, and to use for car washing.

We have placed great emphasis on communal facilities, such as community meeting rooms, a shared garden, a children’s play area, and recycling facilities including a communal waste composter.

The new building re-establishes the former street line of both York Street and Mercer Street re-introduces the pattern of mews dwellings and marks this important city corner with a distinctive and appropriate building.

The project has received the following design awards:

- RIAI Awards 2009, Winner Best Sustainable Building.

- RIAI Awards 2009, Highly Commended, Housing.

- Irish Council of Social Housing Awards 2009; Winner, Regeneration category.

- International Green Good Design Award 2009,
(from the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies and the Chicago Athenaeum (Museum of Architecture and Design).

- OPUS Awards 2009;  Winner Best Housing project.

The Opus awards citations read:
“But there is more than one string to this project’s bow. It works on many different levels, simultaneously from urban design to quality apartment design including a hidden green courtyard oasis. This is architecture as a response and not just a statement. A socially responsive architecture of conscious and confident achievement.”

Project team:
Seán Harrington, Jim Roche, Noel Shortt, Isabel Cogan, Ryan Gillespie, Brian Hutchinson, Gavin Smyth, Robert Bourke, Kevin Smith, Catherine Desjardins, Stephanie Backhaus, Christina Grätz, Donagh O’Keeffe, Gillian Brady, Nuala Flood, Elaine McQuaid, Aoife Leonard.