A Home and Studio at Cloone

The site at Cloone is situated approximately 11 km north of Thurles town in County Tipperary. A local road borders the southern boundary of the site and the Dublin to Cork railway line skirts the northern boundary. The sloped green field site is south facing and as such it exhibited potential in terms of solar gain, access and views.  The client’s family home is the only dwelling within the immediate vicinity of the site terrain– no other restrictions were evident.

We were contacted by Ciara and Niall to design a contemporary family home, a spacious studio and a large double garage – all three buildings were to be detached and single storey. We were instructed to design a contemporary style studio as a permanent workplace for Ciara, a medical herbalist. The studio was required to consist of a waiting room, consultation room, water closet and a storage room. The architectural style and symmetry of the studio echoes that of the nearby voluminous new dwelling.

Our preliminary design sketches centred around the formation of three clustered buildings which resemble the old-style settlement of Irish rural houses. We arranged the design of the dwelling into three specific zones, a bedroom wing, a central wing and a living wing. The living wing incorporates an open plan kitchen, dining and living area, a utility, a guest bedroom and a bathroom area.

The open plan arrangement is spacious, dramatic and awe inspiring – this is achieved by means of a double height space, expansive windows and exposed glulam trusses. In particular, the form and width of the living wing results in a bright, airy and clear interior environment.  To summarize there are superb levels of natural lighting and the spaces are very well ventilated by means of cross flow ventilation.

The dwelling and studio are rated as an A3 energy rating on the Building Energy Rating scale. The renewables technologies consist of a 12 kw Nibe Air to Water Heat Pump and a Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery Unit. Furthermore, a high level of airtightness is achieved by the specification and use of a premium Isover Airtight Membrane system. The expansive exterior doors and windows are triple-glazed and the exterior walls consist of a 150 mm wide factory insulated timber frame inner frame.