The economic situation in Germany led Werner Weidenberg to seek work in Ireland.

"In German magazines there are lots of job adverts for architects in Ireland, often more than there are for jobs in Germany," says the architect who works for Henchion Reuter (which has an office in Germany as well as Dublin).

Before that he spent a year-and-a-half with Quilligan Architects where he worked on a hotel. Before he arrived here he'd heard little about architecture in Ireland as there was nothing featured in magazines.

That's changed in the past couple of years, he says, with the likes of McCullough Mulvin Architects' Trinity College Library appearing in a leading German magazine, for instance.

What hit him when he first arrived was the Georgian architecture.

He then took note of which buildings had won recent RIAI (Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland) prizes and built up his knowledge of contemporary design in Ireland from there.

Building regulations are less of a headache for architects in Ireland, says Werner.

"There aren't all these DIN (international standards) norms. In Germany you need to consult about three different sources to find information about various regulations whereas in Ireland there's just one source of building regulations.

"Also, in Germany the main building regulations book is about 20 times the size of the one in Ireland."

In Ireland we're stricter about health and safety on site, says Werner.

"On the hotel project at Quilligans we worked with the builders Rhatigans. Their security standards were highly professional: everyone wore helmets, proper shoes and there was no drinking on site.

"I've seen sites in Germany where that wasn't the case."