Dawson Street

Built as part of Joshua Dawson’s 1700s grand plan for the lands east of Grafton Street, the three properties were in a dilapidated condition when purchased by our clients in 2016, and their overall condition did little justice to their location on one of the most important and fashionable streets of Georgian Dublin.

PKA remodelled the three houses from top to bottom: upgrading the existing ground floor retail / restaurant units; providing suites of serviced offices on the upper floors of 51A and B; and converting the top floors of the Dawson / Duke Street corner into a stylish duplex apartment.

The apartment’s Duke Street entrance leads to an en-suite bedroom at second floor level.  The access staircase from the street was remodelled, with oak treads and minimalist stainless steel balustrades.

Within the apartment, a new oak staircase connects the entrance level to the double-height kitchen / dining / living room above, whose spectacular vaulted interior echoes the Dutch Billy profile of the original structure. The project also included an extensive programme of conservation and repair works to the historic fabric, including a total reconstruction of the original roof structure.

An exemplar in the adaptation of Georgian townhouses to contemporary apartment living, the philosophy underpinning PKA’s design is that the combination of contemporary interventions with conservation of original elements produces an architecture that is richer than either on its own. 51 Dawson Street was the proud recipient of the 2020 RIAI Award for Adaptation & Reuse.