The long, narrow, plot lies within an Architectural Conservation Area in east inner city Dublin, facing south onto Haddington Road and north onto Cranmer Lane. Despite the previous unsympathetic division of the late Georgian house at 82 Haddington Road into separate office spaces, key original features such as the timber staircase, fireplaces and window shutters remained.
The client was keen to retain such features while upgrading the house to contemporary living standards, with new works to be sympathetic, modern insertions into the existing structure. The overall quality of the spaces in terms of light, material finishes, detailing and services was of crucial importance.
PKA’s response to the client’s brief was to restore- in a balanced manner- the character of the original rooms, while adding a 28 sq.m. contemporary extension to the rear. This replaced a series of dark, substandard rooms and provides for a larger, brighter kitchen-dining space. The contemporary addition opens onto a raised dining terrace overlooking a private garden.
The original plot was divided in two to provide a second dwelling on Cranmer Lane, with separate access from the mews lane. A key design driver for this project was to provide a light-filled and generously proportioned family home within a narrow mews site overlooked on all sides by two and three-storey dwellings and apartment blocks. The plan sets back at the first and second storey to align with the established building line and provide a private planted courtyard with off-street parking.
A bespoke slatted corten steel entrance gate provides an appropriate level of privacy to the inner courtyard while still allowing for a suitable level of engagement and passive surveillance with the mews lane. A soft-edged ‘rough and tumbled’ brick with warm pink and yellow hues marries the new mews house with its wider historic context. The asymmetric pitched roof with an internal vaulted ceiling lowers the eaves and ridge height of this three-storey structure to ensure the mews house sits back respectfully in relation to its Georgian counterpart.
Carefully positioned roof lights, an open central circulation atrium and a palette of simple natural materials ensure natural daylight and ventilation move through the building throughout the day. The primary living space opens onto a sunken south-facing private garden, providing a sense of privacy and calm in this city centre residential development.
This remodelling is an exemplar in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings. The original fabric of 82 Haddington Road was sensitively restored to achieve a BER rating of A3, with Cranmer Lane achieving an A1 rating – both exceeding the requirements for existing structures. Photo-voltaic panels, a heat pump, a ventilation system, airtightness procedures and a highly insulated fabric will ensure high levels of thermal comfort for the occupants.
