Kylebeg Housing Development, Banagher

Paul Keogh Architects' Banagher infill housing development is the first phase of a planned extension to the County Offaly town, for which PKA prepared a masterplan in 2015.

Commissioned by Offaly County Council, PKA's scheme consists of eight units, most of which were designed for the needs of older residents.

Situated on a steeply sloping site off the main street, the terrace will link the planned new neighbourhood to the urban core of Banagher. Using the sloping site to advantage, PKA's design steps each unit forward as the terrace falls away from the town, thereby generating the identifying feature of the scheme - the continuous roof profile from end to end of the scheme.

The houses are wide-frontage units, so that each has a dual-aspect kitchen-cum-dining room that has views of both the public street and its private rear garden. There are enclosed passages between the units to give access to the rear gardens. Of the eight unit total, six are designed for the elderly, and the larger end-of-terrace houses are fully accessible for residents with special needs.

The scheme uses renewable technologies to achieve an A2 BER rating - air-source heat pumps, PV solar panels, heat recovery and solid-fuel stoves.

Build within DHPLG cost limits, the houses are faced in white-brick to the front and render to the rear. Roofs to the street are finished in natural slate with fibre cement to the rear.

Each house has its own front patio area, separated from the street by brick-faced planters that step in line with the fall of the roofs.

Client: Offaly County Council
Value: €1,685,000
Size: 8 units
Design: 2013
Completion: 2015