The landed estate and the “big house” was the centre of the rural economy in Ireland in the 18th and early 19th century based on the agrarian rental system between landlords and tenant farmers. This changed in the late 19th century when after the famine declining rents resulted in many estates being massively encumbered with […] Read more – ‘historic regional town bank development’.
The roofspace can often present the “low hanging fruit” in terms of energy upgrade potential in a historic building by comparison with other heat loss elements such as walls, windows and floors. Unless the roof presents itself as a cold roof with a large accessible attic working space and a flat ceiling which can easily […] Read more – ‘how to insulate and ventilate old house roofs’.
In 2020, we were engaged by a multi-disciplinary team lead by John Fleming Architects to provide conservation architect input to the redevelopment and restoration of the 18th century former county infirmary site at John’s Green, Kilkenny, an important mid eighteenth‐century structure representing one of the earliest surviving purpose built public health institutions in the area. […] Read more – ‘redevelopment of johns green Kilkenny’.
We were engaged in 2021 by BAM & Transport Infrastructure Ireland to provide conservation architect oversight of repointing and repair works to the 19th century embankment walls to the Phibsborough Luas station. The works included re-pointing and masonry consolidation of wall faces and wall tops. Read more – ‘phibsborough luas station’.
We were appointed to a specialist multi-disciplinary team led by DMOD Architects in 2021 in relation to the conservation & restoration of St. Davids Castle in Naas. The building originally comprised of a medieval tower house which was possibly reconstructed in the 15th century from an earlier structure as part of the construction of the […] Read more – ‘st. davids castle, naas’.
We provided input to the re-pointing and façade restoration at 4 & 5 South William Street for Savills Ireland in 2020. The two buildings were considered to have been built together but the right hand section was likely re-faced in the late 19th century in the Victorian style of the time possibly in response to […] Read more – ‘facade restoration south william street, dublin 2’.
Athy is an Anglo-Norman town located at one of the principal bridges across the river Barrow which separated the Gaelic Irish of the midlands from the more Protestant controlled lands to the east of the river and closer to the Pale. The town was therefore subject to attack from the native Irish from the 14-16th […] Read more – ‘The white castle, athy conservation management plan’.
Above: (Left to right) Calcitherm Caclium Silicate board, Gutex wood fibre board, Remmers iQtherm board, Diasen Diathonite While many of our traditional buildings have been sitting inefficient and unmolested for several hundred years, the development of improved energy standards and thermal comfort levels in modern buildings in recent years has created a new benchmark against which […] Read more – ‘how to insulate old house walls’.
The Upper Leeson Street Area Residents Association (ULSARA) have celebrated their 50th anniversary with the publication of a book of essays which describe the history and character of the area as well as the associations fight against uncontrolled development in the 1960s in the area. We were delighted to contribute to the publication with a […] Read more – ‘the future of living in period historic houses’.
Historic buildings require professional conservation skills that can only be learned over time. Fergal’s background and experience as a conservation architect is outlined as follows: 1995-1996: Worked with conservation practices Richard Hurley & Associates and Hamilton Young Architects on protected structures including St. Marys & St. Annes Cathedral, Cork. 1996-2000: Worked with Arthur Gibney […] Read more – ‘conservation architect dublin’.
Trim Gaol was constructed c1832 and adopted the Panopticon design which provided for a radial or polygonal arc of cell blocks encircling a central inspection block where the governor could more easily monitor the prisoners and his staff and ensure a balanced and fair system of justice. Walled exercise yards filled the external spaces between the […] Read more – ‘conservation of old gaol wall, trim’.
Smarmore Castle has been the seat of the Taaffe family who had large landholdings throughout Louth and are thought to have occupied the site since the construction of the tower house c1320. The tower house was extended to the south c1740s with a two-storey seven-bay U-shaped wing and extended again to the north-east with a three-storey […] Read more – ‘smarmore castle, ardee – the re-use of a historic demense’.
Nos. 30-31 Lower O’Connell Street are part of a group of four buildings reconstructed in 1919 after the 1916 Easter Rising. Although the buildings were all developed separately by different architects and for different clients, their uniformity is a result of an expert committee established after the rising who produced a masterplan and guidelines for the […] Read more – ‘30-31 o’connell street, dublin 1 – facade repairs’.
We have been commissioned by Irish Waterways to prepare heritage impact assessments for works proposed to a number of 18th century Grand Canal Bridges in Kildare. The first bridge to be examined was Bond Bridge in Allenwood, Co. Kildare constructed in 1796 as part of the 1797 extension of the Grand Canal at the time to Phillipstown (Daingean). […] Read more – ‘irish waterways – repair of canal bridges’.
The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNRI) was an Irish-gauge railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North-Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland and Ulster Railway. The location of GRNI’s central engineering works in Dundalk had a huge impact on the town at the time and the […] Read more – ‘residential development in a victorian setting, ardee terrace, dundalk’.
One of the tasks of the “Built to Last” study of Dublin’s pre-1945 housing stock that we undertook with others for Dublin City Council in 2013 was a classification of Dublin’s house types from 1700-1945. The task was an ambitious one given the broad historic period and variety of houses from different periods to be considered. […] Read more – ‘classification and typology of dublin houses’.
Above: Temple of Knossos, Crete I recently visited the Temple of Knossos in Crete to see the remains of what was possibly the first city in Europe created by the Minoan civilization c.3000-1000 BC. The city was forgotten after it was abandoned but featured in Greek mythology until it was excavated in 1878 by Sir […] Read more – ‘From knossos to killarney – what about historic building reconstruction?’.
The shortcomings of coherent transport planning for Dublin has been well-publicised over the years. It is interesting however to look back at what we have been saved from. The image above was published in the Architectural Review in 1974 in a special edition on Dublin. The before-and-after image was prepared by the magazine to […] Read more – ‘dublin and the 1974 central dublin traffic plan’.
What are the walls of Dublin houses made of? Following the demise of timber-framed house construction in Dublin in the 17th century, the use of brick construction established itself in the early 18th century supported by an act of parliament in 1730 that stipulated quality control measures for local brickmaking. The houses of the 18th […] Read more – ‘historic wall construction of dublin houses pre-1945’.
We have prepared a report in conjunction with Sustineo and Building Life Consultancy to evaluate the environmental performance of a Natural Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (NEES) demonstration project in Cloyne, Co. Cork for South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd (SKDP). The project is investigating the use of services and materials based on natural or recycled materials to […] Read more – ‘carbon/life cycle/energy analysis (NEES) demonstration building in cloyne, co. cork’.
Above: Marino estate under construction The history of the Marino estate in Dublin is of interest being the first inter-war housing development in Ireland to be influenced by the then new “garden suburbs” ideas encapsulated in the Tudor Walters Report in the UK and it’s Irish counterpart, PC Cowan’s 1918 Report on Dublin Housing. This […] Read more – ‘history of marino estate, dublin 3 – architecture and design influences’.
2 The Bungalows in Greenore, Co. Louth is an unusual protected structure both from a design and construction point of view. The Victorian/Arts & Crafts style house was one of four units apparently imported as a timber frame kit around 1895 and developed as short stay golf links holiday homes as part of the now […] Read more – ‘conservation of victorian house, greenore, co louth’.
We are pleased to form part of a consortium appointed by Dublin City Council to research the characteristics and energy upgrade potential of pre-1945 historic dwellings in Dublin City. The consortium comprises of Building Life Consultancy, Fergal McGirl Architects and IHER Energy Services. We will carry out a particular role in classification of dwelling types from […] Read more – ‘dublin city council research study of energy efficiency in pre-1945 historic dwellings in dublin city’.
The evolution of 20th century windows is illustrated in Marino. The extracts from photographs from the Dublin City Archive in the slideshow above illustrate the window patterns from the time it was built as the first social housing of the newly-independent Free State (for more on the planning history of the estate see here). Marino was built […] Read more – ‘early 20th century window patterns in the marino estate, dublin’.
