LOWER LEESON STREET MEWS HOUSE
Sympathetically designed by Fergal McGirl Architects, this 3-storey mews house sits within the curtilage of a protected Georgian townhouse
40 Lower Leeson Street is a terraced Georgian townhouse constructed in about 1820 as part of the extension of Leeson Street from Stephen’s Green at the time. The mews plots to the rear have been developed for residential and commercial uses, with the fabric of the original mews structures incorporated in places. A 1970’s modernist house by Arthur Gibney terminates the mews terrace to the south.
The rear of no. 40 was used for car parking when it was purchased by the client in 2015. While the main house to Leeson Street was retained for office use, there was a desire to develop a three-storey mews dwelling similar in scale to the development pattern to the north side of the mews site.
It was decided to remove the existing car parking to the rear of the building, restore a quantum of open space to the main building and develop a mews house across the full width of the site.
The house has a total floor area of 196.5m2 and is laid out in a conventional plan configuration of open-plan living accommodation at ground floor level, which visually connects front and rear courtyards with bedrooms at first and second floor level. Daylight is allowed to penetrate deep into the plan from rooflights above the main central stairwell at the upper floor levels and also above a single-storey projection at ground floor level to the rear.
The house is contemporary in style, featuring substantial glazed sections to the front and rear of the house and a modern palette of materials including white brick, fibre-cement cladding and rendered elements. The original remaining element of the limestone boundary wall facing the mews lane was retained to anchor the house into its historic context.
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Michael McDonnell – Managing Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine
Email: michael@mcdmedia.ie WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE WWW.PLANONLINE.IE
