Ranelagh House
An Antique Collector asked us to extend and reconfigure his Victorian terraced house in Ranelagh, Dublin 6 to best display his eclectic pieces. Using a palette of natural materials (lime, copper and terracotta) drawn from the older house, we arranged a linear sequence of top lit rooms culminating in a view through folding timber doors to the south facing garden
This urban terraced house is located on a Dublin terraced street built in at the end of the 19th Century featuring narrow house plots which benefit from long south facing gardens. The house was purchased by an antiques-lover who needed a complete overhaul of the house to best display his collection and take advantage of the south facing garden view from a new first floor bedroom and dining area.
The design proposal stacks solid blocks of accommodation with thick lime rendered walls accommodating integrated storage vitrines and display internally and full height folding openings to the sunny garden.
Tall vertically proportioned doors bring the occupants through each room, with the surrounding garden walls lime-rendered to read as another room at the end of the linear sequence.
The plan extends in a linear fashion along the length of the site with varying overhead natural lighting conditions which gradate from muted to bright as you move towards the garden, where the façade can fold fully open from the kitchen. The owners antique collection coupled with architectural salvage generate an eclectic and rich interior which is hinted at with small flourishes of copper metalwork detail on the outside.
The material and colour palette selection both internally and externally were selected to harmonise rather than contrast with the owners collection - the hardwood, lime render and un-oxidised copper will transform with the effects of weather and age.
Outside, the garden is planted with wild-flowers, climbing plants and dotted with salvaged granite from the demolitions to create a private imagined garden ruin to the rear of the house.
