Development of 25no. dwellings for social housing in a rural setting for Wicklow County Council.

This is a local authority housing project for Wicklow County Council. Located on a green field site in Parknasillogue, Enniskerry, we designed this scheme of 25 dwellings on the principle of traditional farmyard clusters with a contemporary interpretation of vernacular building styles. All south facing dwellings are shallow in plan to ensure no exclusively north facing rooms and careful attention has been paid to microclimate, planting and landscaping.

At the Opus Awards ceremony in 2009 (for which the project ‘Parknasillogue, Enniskerry’ was commended in the Housing Category), the citation read: “This local authority housing scheme is a thoughtful exploration of clustered buildings around informal courtyards. It gives a sense of place dedicated to people rather than cars. There are no windswept open spaces lacking definition rather only quality design throughout the whole scheme.”

Client: Wicklow County Council
Location: Parknasillogue, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow
Completed: November 2008

Project team
Seán Harrington Architects: Seán Harrington, Ryan Gillespie, Gavin Smyth, Jim Roche
Structural and Civil Engineers: Fearon O’Neill Rooney
Quantity Surveyor: Austin Reddy & Co

Specialist suppliers
Sinusoidal roof sheet: Economic Profiles Ltd. (UK)

Awards
RIAI Awards 2009, Commended, Housing Category.
OPUS Awards 2009, Commended, Housing Category.

*project commenced by Howley Harrington Architects (Partner in charge Seán Harrington)