Open House is an architectural festival that allows the public inside some of our most recognisable buildings - but it also gives us a peek inside some unusual private houses. Rosita Bolandspeaks to some of the people inviting strangers into their homes this weekend
THIS WEEKEND, as part of the fourth annual Open House, many public and private buildings in Dublin will be opening their doors. Run by the Irish Architecture Foundation and billed as Ireland’s largest architectural festival, Open House Dublin is an opportunity for the public to have a look around some of the capital’s flagship public buildings, offices and private homes.
Among those public buildings participating for the first time this year are the Central Bank and the new Criminal Courts of Justice. Peter McGovern is the architect who worked on the new courts, for Henry J Lyons and Partners. So what can the public expect to see when they come along this weekend?
“They’ll get to see the public spaces – the Great Hall, which is the space from which all the courtrooms are accessed. They’ll get to see a courtroom or two. They’ll get to see a jury courtroom, which would probably be the most interesting, and also a jury retiring room.
There will also be “an opportunity to stand in the witness box”, something McGovern anticipates keen uptake in. However, the public will not see any “tunnel”; a supposed feature of the new courts reported in various media during the Eamonn Lillis murder trial. “The famous underground tunnel that doesn’t exist,” McGovern says. “The mythical tunnel. There are certainly a number of ways in and out of the building, but for the budget we had, there’s no tunnel.”
Along with places such as the Aviva Stadium, Liberty Hall, Grand Canal Theatre, Government Buildings, the Provost’s House at Trinity College Dublin and The Irish Times offices, a number of privately-owned houses will also be on view over the weekend. Most, but not all, are owned by architects, who use the opportunity to showcase their practice, as well as demonstrate what can be done to transform sometimes quite modest houses. These houses have proved very popular in former years with people looking for ideas to do up their own homes.
Lucky Lane Mews Housing in Stoneybatter is a house new to the programme this year. Peter Carroll of A2 architects, whose home it is, designed it himself. “It’s a new version of the two-up two-down typical houses of the area, but it’s in the mews. The houses are located on a lane as opposed to a street.” Ten houses were planned, and to date, four have been built.
WHY IS CARROLL OPENING his home to the public? “That’s not an easy question to answer,” he admits. “I think it’s important that people see the variety of house types that people can live in in Dublin. It’s about trying to promote another way of living in the city.” The living areas are upstairs, with bedrooms downstairs, and the frontage is “industrial style” with a steel front door, to mirror some of the businesses operating in the surrounding area, particularly garages.
“I think people will be really interested in the energy elements to the house. It’s all very low energy; no gas or oil, all renewable. And it’s unusual in that there isn’t a lick of paint in the place. It’s an exercise in economy and how there is hidden beauty in the structure itself. There’s a lot of exposed concrete blockwork on the ground floor, polished concrete floors, and the plasterwork on the ceilings has just been left as it is.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Carroll won’t be doing any special preparation for the visiting public. “I’m a very tidy person, and most of the storage is built in, so I’ll just be opening the doors and letting people in.”
Plastic House is the name of teacher Patrick Davern’s house in North Strand. Architect Maxim Laroussi worked on the house for him.
“The house was built in 1890, and it’s an Edwardian artisan cottage. I had it for four years before I decided to do something with it. The light was very bad. I had wanted a loft-style house originally. I decided in the long run it was cheaper if I gutted the whole house and redesigned it. What I wanted was a Japanese type of look, a minimalist look; trying to use small spaces in the best way possible.”
The “plastic” in the title of the house comes from the polycarbonate that now forms a primary material in the dramatic renovation. Laroussi, the architect, rented the house from Davern for a year when the latter was working abroad. “A lot of architects suffer from separation anxiety,” laughs Davern.
He will be removing all personal items from the rooms the public will see. “Photographs, and things like that. I’m not saying I have to sanitise the house, but I do need to do some cleaning.”
PLASTIC HOUSE OPENED to the public some time ago, when 800 people came through its doors to visit a temporary art exhibition. Davern was present, although most visitors did not know he was the owner. “It is definitely odd to walk around around your own house and eavesdrop on people talking about it. I found it very interesting. It’s a bit like being an artist, I imagine – going into the art gallery where your work is, and loitering beside your paintings, listening to people’s comments and feedback, good and bad.”
However, Davern doesn’t intend being present this weekend when the public visit his home. “I’ve heard enough,” he says sagely. “I’m leaving the architect to show people around.”
House in Sandymount is the home of Emmett Scanlon of CAST architecture, who redesigned the 1930s house. “The best extension never built,” is the description of the house in the programme. What Scanlon did was take down a wall connecting two rooms, thereby doing what he calls “extending the view”. The project was focused on attention to detail, and it included going back to the manufacturers of the original 1930s metal single-glazed windows and getting new windows made, with double glazing. “You could call it a gentle conservation project.”
So how does one’s house get included in Open House?
“We were asked,” Scanlon explains. “We put the project in for awards, and it got noticed. It’s a project of relative modesty, and it shows that you can do very little with your house, and yet achieve quite a lot, even in terms of light. And houses like this one tend to be very popular with the general public, because people are curious to see what you can do. I’ve noticed that when you show a house to people who aren’t architects – the general public – people say a lot more to you.”
Why is this? "They say things like how the house makes them feel. If they'd like to live there. Architects are busy looking at details. They don't tend to say things like that, because they're looking at the house from a different perspective. So yes, you do look at your house differently afterwards as a result."
Some of the buildings open this weekend, and associated events:
Commissioners of Irish Lights building, Dún Laoghaire
Remodelled for Light, private home in Sandymount
Central Bank of Ireland
Elm Park, mixed-used development, Merrion Road
Number 31 Leeson Close, former home of architect Sam Stephenson
Bridging the Liffey - walking tour focusing on Dublin's new bridges.
Guided walk through Docklands Open Spaces.
Dublin Docklands by water – tours of Dublin's urban quarter by boat
Summer Row Community Garden – tours of new inner-city allotment
Liffeylands Cycle – cycling tour of historical sites, and Nama developments with architect Bernard Gilna
Some buildings are pre-book only.
For information and bookings, see architecturefoundation.ie/openhouse
