Reuben Street
The existing house is part of Victorian terrace of 2 story brick houses on Reuben Street in Dublin. Similar to many properties of its age, it lacked modern conveniences, particularly an adequate dining area and kitchen and was in need of general refurbishment and upgrading of wiring, plumbing and insulation. The main house was internally insulated using breathable materials and the extension though modest in area, is maximised in its volume, to form a double height dining room to the rear of the house.
The existing kitchenette located in the rear return was cramped and had a very low ceiling height. The dining area was separated from this kitchenette by steps and a tight corridor. The initial brief was to modify the rear return to form a kitchen & dining area that could spill out into the rear garden. During the demolition phase the build, it was agreed to further open up the house by removing the partition walls on the ground floor to make one large living room that is more connected to the kitchen & dining area at rear.
The extension is a mixed construction of cast concrete set out in day-pours or lifts of 450mm, and timber frame above. The structure is then externally insulated in EPS, and wrapped in white coloured fibre glass. It is a deliberately pragmatic and mute envelope, at home in Dublin back of house landscape, where fibre glass wraps everything from flat roofs to water tanks. This blank white hefty form is in a playful relationship with the more articulated bay window and anodised aluminium sliding screen to the side of the extension. Placing this slider to the side allows for the dining space to spill out laterally and feel a little bigger. The brick salvaged during the demolition phase is retained on site and used as external paving.
Both the clients and myself were drawn to strong colours and a disregard for the conventions of ‘good taste’. The bay window with the cats ear stands out as an unusual feature. It is a punched hole in the cast concrete wall that frames a bay window beyond, this extra space is hung from the concrete shelf above. It is made in such a way as to minimise any visible frame creating an ambiguous relationship with the garden beyond.
