Drumcondra Extension
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Hi,
I read in one of the weekend papers (either the Sunday times or Tribune) about a conversion of a house in Dromcondra, Dublin where they opened a two bed terrace creating a complete open plan house. Excellent use of light and space and it had a floor to roof bookcase.
It impressed me as it reminded me of the conversions done to houses in the Paddington area of Sydney which too has old (the terrace in Dromcondra was 1930’s) terraces which are converted to make them as spacious as possible.
I believe that these kind of conversions are really going to get popular as Dublin chokes on traffic.I would love to get more information on this conversion and the article mentioned that it was featured in tyhe current issue of the”Irish architect house magazine” . Would someone here be able to point where I may subscribe to that newsletter or how I may get a copy. I am not an architect having choosen to my on-going dismay an IT career.
Thanks for any help.
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i read that, cathal o’neill and his son. looked good, not sure if “open plan” describes it, more “open everything”. windows everywhere, lightwells top to bottom. too busy and too much going on for such a small house. didn’t change the front except for a velux, and the existing rear extension was demolished and replaced with something of better quality.
o’neill has a strong conservation ethic, i don’t think the house was comprimised unduly by the works.
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@notjim wrote:
you know one of the things that’s stops me selling my house is the fear that someone like you will buy it and destroy the original floor plan.
Interesting. Thought about what you said but would have to disagree. Surely by retaining the outside features and the main inside ones but redesigning the house to improve light and space and to accomadate 21st century living is not an affront to these lovely red brick terraces. Is it not better for people to rediscover the benefits of inner-city living and avail of public transport rather than build those anti-social housing schemes out west.
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@notjim wrote:
the benefits of inner-cty living are also available in apartments.
that’s a bit forceful. apartment living with no garden, no front door, single level accommodation (in most instances), no sense of community, anonymity, and so on, people don’t always want these things, and if knocking down a 70 year old wall is necassary for them to be happy where they are, i’d say leave them be.
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@notjim wrote:
you know one of the things that’s stops me selling my house is the fear that someone like you will buy it and destroy the original floor plan.
Did you ever consider applying to the city council to have your house added to the list of protected structures? It would be unusual I guess but not impossible. Then you could sell it with a clear consience. Interesting to see if it would affect the sale price. I’d say it’d be minimal impact.
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I agree with SW101. I’m in a small Edwardian 2-up 2-down and although I love the yellow brick & sash windows I don’t particularly like having to turn on all the lights downstairs at 2pm. I would love to have the money to invert the house and open up the whole upstairs into an open plan living space. Leave the bedrooms and toilet downstairs where light is not so important. Maybe even a roof terrace upstairs. I think it would improve the house immensly.
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Love the idea of knocking little terraced houses together – Boyd Cody did a lovely job for Robert Ballagh with three houses. I used to live in one of these:
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/henrietta_street/cottages_lge.htmland we had to have the lights turned on nearly all day – so dark inside.
So the position of being able to knock a few together is an enviable one – think of doing it with a bigger house – one of the victorians off the scr and you’d have a massive city centre home
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@Paul Clerkin wrote:
Love the idea of knocking little terraced houses together – Boyd Cody did a lovely job for Robert Ballagh with three houses. I used to live in one of these:
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/henrietta_street/cottages_lge.htmland we had to have the lights turned on nearly all day – so dark inside.
used to be your neighbour. if you’re fortunate enough to wake up up in the middle of the day it’s impossible to tell if it’s dawn, dusk, or midday.
in situations like that i like to see facades retained, with exception made for roof lighting, but behind the front door let good design reign.
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Great little discussion going but wonder if someone may be able to point me to where i may be able to get the full article on the conversion.
I agree with sw101. Apartment living seemed a good idea when they built the ballymun towers and look where that went. The same mistakes are been made out in Clonee/Clonsilla where you are isolating people in their own homes. They made a small attempt in Ongar Green where they have built a little village even with a main street. One of the to-be-occupied buildings had a notice saying “public house” and i thought for a second they were going to put in an arts house or community hall!
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@manstein wrote:
Great little discussion going but wonder if someone may be able to point me to where i may be able to get the full article on the conversion.
forgive us. do you want the story from the times? i could bring it in tomorrow and scan it if you like, or if you’re not in a rush i could have a sconce in the journals at some stage.
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@sw101 wrote:
forgive us. do you want the story from the times? i could bring it in tomorrow and scan it if you like, or if you’re not in a rush i could have a sconce in the journals at some stage.
Thanks I would really appreciate it. I have the article from the times but if you could at some stage get the article from the journal that would be very kind.
All the best.
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