Site Specific: Coastal Cottage

GAAN Architects - County Clare, Ireland, 2023

GA In the 90's, our client purchased a cottage in County Clare and have since lived with its constrained living spaces, dark interiors and access issues. The location on Ireland's west Atlantic coast originally drew the couple, who work, live and have raised a family in Dublin back in holidays, but now the limitations and issues with the house have led them to approach us to develop a strategy which would carefully undo the work of previous renovations to create a warmer house that they can enjoy all year round.

The initial move was to propose the removal of the pair of very large masonry internal walls, remnants of previous adaptations and to undo the extreme thermal and dampness issues typical of coastal stone buildings but in this case made worse by more recent renovations with inappropriate materials.

We worked carefully to create more spacious rooms and to create safer access to the loft space. This was done by concealing a new staircase and mechanical apparatus within a thickened storage wall, an inserted facade which separates the sleeping and living areas of the house.

The low ceilings and associated darkness have been addressed through the creation of a vaulted roof over the living spaces, allowing the insertion of skylights to bring light and air into this room which along with upgraded glazing to the ocean becomes a comfortable living space for the family to gather even on the worst of days.

The thermal strategy works with breathable lime renders and wood fibre insulation to ensure the masonry walls can work as intended, reducing the risk of internal condensation and mould growth. This is aided by the installation of an air source heat pump working together with underfloor heating, the house previously was heated only by an open fire. All structural interventions are designed using standard sized timber sections with steel connections to the existing stonework.

Material choices and design strategies have been carefully considered to ensure the scheme can be delivered within budget. Thankfully, after a few stalled attempts, we now have a contractor on board who is due to start onsite in the summer.

NOTES

Thanks to David Magennis of GAAN Architects for his help in compiling this post.

Published 7th June 2023.