Timberyard Housing wins RIBA International Award and is among the three contenders for the prestigious Lubetkin Prize for the best international building.

When a small tear was made in the urban fabric of Dublin by the construction of the Coombe by-pass, O’Donnell + Tuomey came up with a way of repairing it with a highly modulated wall of housing that is almost Byker-like in its form and impact. The sculptural wall is broken up with deep-set windows or blind cuts, by set-backs to create terraces and by the vertical use of Iroko timber in screens. The building line cranks to hug the street and at ground level and there are built-in granite planters-cum-seats.

The main communal space is an open-ended triangular wedge, passively surveyed by the residents whose flats overlook it. Children can play here happily and safely just metres from a busy main road. These are grown-up spaces to grow up in.

From Lubetkin Prize citation

Category:
• Awards
• Housing