Foxes Grove House / DUA

+ 27

Text description provided by the architects. We were commissioned to design a new 2-bed house, for a family, on a corner site, in a suburban estate in county Dublin. The design of the building reflects the form of the adjacent houses. It respects the front and rear building lines of the housing estate, whilst incorporating the existing boundary wall, in the ground floor plan. The building is constructed from a timber frame structure, which was erected in 3 days. This is reflected externally by the Siberian larch cladding that wraps the exterior.

The larch cladding provides privacy and filters southern light into the interior. Shadows dance around the interior illustrating the passing of the day and bringing a sense of discovery to the occupants of the house, as it continues to delight and surprise you day after day. The larch cladding floats above the ground and maneuvers up and down around the perimeter of the house, as it comes in contact with the boundary walls. Internally the ground floor layout is subtly divided by the use of a sunken dining area and a centrally located fitted furniture unit, below the triple-height void space.

These space dividing mechanisms ensure that each of the spaces is separate and cozy, whilst at the same time allowing for visual links between them. A plywood wall runs the length of the ground floor concealing the utilitarian spaces. The stairs, bathroom, utility room, and kitchen units are concealed within the flush plywood wall. In contrast to this, a raw concrete floor runs throughout the ground floor and drops down 450mm into the dining area, creating a multipurpose ledge around its perimeter, for sitting and showcasing objects.

Upstairs the two bedrooms are separated via an eaves roof light window and triple-height space, lined with plywood. This bounces warm daylight into the interior below, allows for visual connections between the different floors and creates an informal hang-out space in the void to sit and watch the clouds drift by.