THE RECENT restoration works at Russborough House, Co Wicklow, carried out under the direction of Dublin-based architects Howley Hayes, have won the Irish Georgian Society’s Conservation Award for 2011.
The works included consolidation of the roof structure and slating, repair of damp on the main staircase, the provision of elaborate electronic and other security equipment and extensive improvement of fire precautions.
Fifty contractors supervised by the architects were also involved in reinstating the west wing after its destruction by fire, restoration of the chimneypiece in the entrance hall and its redecoration as well as the staircase and upstairs lobby.
However, as adjudicator Dr Edward McParland observed, all of the restoration carried out at Russborough was “impressively discreet” and the house “looked wonderfully ‘settled’, with no unwelcome traces of so much recent work”.
The restoration of the Camellia House at Shane’s Castle, Co Antrim, by Alistair Coey Architects, was given a high commendation. Some 70 per cent of the structure had to be dismantled and rebuilt, with most of the cast-iron trusses conserved.
Other shortlisted entries for the awards were Fota House, Co Cork, by John O’Connell Architects; the restoration of Dundrum railway station, Co Tipperary, as a house and office by Kyran Colgan, and a project in Deverell Place, Dublin, by Denis Byrne.
Tributes were paid at the awards ceremony last night to Desmond FitzGerald, Knight of Glin and former president of the Irish Georgian Society, who died on September 15th, by Dr McParland and Prof Kevin B Bowlan, the society’s vice-president.
A full report on the conservation awards, for which Frank McDonald was an adjudicator, will appear in tomorrow’s Property supplement.
