Foxfield

This project was for an infill house on a corner site in Fairview, north Dublin.

The site condition is one which occurs frequently in housing developments in Ireland: Houses built at the corner of a block typically have additional garden space, often sufficient for the development of a second house on the site. Our clients wished to explore the possibility of developing a new house for themselves adjacent to their existing house, into which they would relocate.

In this case the “corner site” was relatively narrow, providing space for a long, thin house. Our design allows for access through a narrow side courtyard directly into the centre of the house. This side courtyard, facing west for evening light, becomes a space which the main ground floor rooms look out into. Courtyard access is not common in Irish housing developments, but here becomes a means to maximise private external space on a restricted site. A vehicular entrance is provided separately at the northern end of the site

Inside the front door a generous entrance hallway permits access to a living room to the right (south), a kitchen to the left, a shower room and utility space, and a stair accessing two first floor bedrooms. The ground floor also provides a study which can additionally act as a ground floor level bedroom. The form of the house reflects that of the adjacent houses, a four-sided sloped roof terminating at a point.

Given the restricted nature of the site the planning applicating process was challenging, however planning for the design shown here was finally granted. Although the client eventually decided not to proceed with the design due to a change in circumstances, the design process was a useful one in terms of testing the possibilities for use of a compromised site in a suburban context.