Not just a place for your car

Ireland on Sunday (Property Section), November 14, 1999

WHEN YOU think of your garage, what comes to mind? Probably bits of old junk, the lawnmower, a few rusty bicycles and your trusty car.

It's usually a dark, dingy affair, which you wander around only when you need something, or if you are a young band practicing to be the next U2. All in all, it's not the sort of room that wins an award.

However, up-and-coming design company, Box Architects, has scooped the prestigious Opus Building Award for the building of the year at the 1999 Plan Expo. The building in question is a first-class, £20,000 garage designed with an environmental feel, complete with lots of windows and wood paneling.

"It was uplifting to see the creative effort by the architects in tackling the normally mundane brief of a low-cost garage conversion with intelligence, ingenuity and innovation," said Ciaran O'Connor, one of the judges.

The architects who designed the garage, David Dwyer and Gary Mongey, are recent graduates of Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street, and say they hope the award will help to bring in more "quality" clients.

"It was great to work with people who allowed us to transform their garage completely and let us do our job well," Dwyer said.