Gorse Cottage, Co. Mayo

PKA's Gorse Cottage remodelling has turned this run-of-the-mill bungalow into a spectacular holiday home that maximises the potential of its spectacular views across Clew Bay and to Croagh Patrick.

When purchase in 2015 the house was in a run-down condition, and PKA's brief was to entirely remodel the property, both internally and externally, for our clients' young family as well as almost doubling its size with a new structure alongside and interlocking with the original retained structure.

The first priority of PKA's remodelling was to organise the accommodation so that the open-plan living, dining and kitchen areas took advantage of the site's spectacular views across Clew Bay to Mulranny and Achill Island.

As a consequence, the three ground floor bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms were located to the rear, albeit with the master bedroom having an uninterrupted view of and to the world-famous holy mountain - Croagh Patrick.

The interlocking plan of old and new, and the resulting double-pitched roof, created the opportunity to create a central roof-lit gallery that provides daylight and sunshine into the interior at all times of the year.

The built form, white render, grey windows and slate roofs reflect the architecture of the Irish vernacular, and an equally simple palette of internal finishes creates an atmosphere of calm wellbeing.

Rejecting the option of demolition and new-build, the design philosophy that underpinned PKA's remodelling of the property was that the combination of contemporary interventions with retention of the original was the more sustainable solution, and the one which delivered an architecture that is richer than either on its own.

Client: Private
Value: Private

Size: 208 sq.m.

Reference: On application
Design: 2014
Completion: 2016