Sleeping Giant - Killiney House
Dublin
Located high on a hill in Killiney, with views southwards towards Dublin Bay and the Sugarloaf Mountain, the site has the character of a secluded hollow, 6m below the road, with distinctive rocky outcrops of granite.
The house is built into the topography in a series of split levels directly relating to the ground levels outside. Interlocking rooms step over the rocky site providing a variety of views to sea.
The form of the house responds to the character of the site, the most distinctive and challenging aspect being the faceted concrete roof inspired by the granite rock formation around it. From the outside it reads like another outcrop. Approached from above the chamfered concrete roof is exposed on the outside where it sparkles in the sunlight. To the inside it forms an angled, tent-like ceiling, the mica of the granite aggregate reflecting light throughout the day and giving a soft glow to the flowing spaces.
- Architectural Review House Award commendation
- AAI Award
- RIBA Award (European Award)
- 1st World Architecture Festival shortlist
- The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award nomination
- Irish Concrete Society - Building Award
- Irish Concrete Society - Overall Winner
- American Academy of Arts and Letters 2015 Awards: O’Donnell + Tuomey
Dublin, 29 Oct – 9 Nov 2015
The kitchen and living room walls are fully glazed with heavy timber frames along their Southern and Eastern edges. Anchored by an exposed in situ concrete chimney and resting on lines of slender steel columns, the tilted planes of the ceiling emphasise the horizontal line of the distant sea horizon. The roof floats clear of the internal walls of the house. Clerestory glazing allows daylight and views to penetrate the depth of the house.
A close working relationship with the builders allowed the precise detail of the concrete construction to be controlled and the complex shuttering patterns were worked through a series of cardboard models, kept in the site office during that phase of the work.
Publications:
- AV Monographs, 2016
- Architectural Review, August 2011, AR House Awards, Commendation AR House 2011 PDF
- RIBA Journal, May 2011, Handover #1:, Hugh Pearman on O’Donnell + Tuomey, Hugh Pearman PDF
- Architects Sketchbook, Thames & Hudson, Will Jones (Editor) PDF
- Basics Architecture 03, Architectural Design, AVA Publishing, Jane Anderson PDF
- Encyclopedia of Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture, Virginia McLeod
- Ways of Working, 2010
- Casabella, May 09 2009, Sleeping Giant PDF
- Build your own house and home, 2009 2009, Concrete abstraction PDF
- New Irish Architecture 24, AAI Awards 2009, Gandon Editions
- The Sunday Times, Mar 23 2008, Sleeping Giant will wake to applause, Mark Keenan
- Jan 31 2008, Sleeping giant huddles into the landscape, Emma Cullinan ↗︎
- The Irish Times, 07.02.2008 2008, Sleeping giant huddles into the landscape, Emma Cullinan PDF
- Architects’ Journal, , RIBA Awards 2008
- BD Magazine, Issue 1805, Feb 2008 2008, Around the Rugged Rock, Ellis Woodman ↗︎
- Irish Examiner, Mar 22 2008, An Architects dream and a nature lovers paradise, Tommy Barker ↗︎
- Architecture Ireland, No. 235, March 08 2008, A relaxed recumbent Spatial Generosity, James Roderick O’Donovan PDF
- Architecture 08, The RIBA Awards, Merrell, Tony Chapman (Editor)
- RIBA Journal, 114/3 2007, Earth Sea Sky, Hugh Pearman
- Arquitectura Viva, No. 127, IX-X 07 2007, Casa gigante dormido PDF