Construction Ireland, Vol 6 No 8

Thinking outside the Box
Box Architecture ltd

Box Architecture, founded in 1997 in Dublin, Ireland by two D.I.T. architecture graduates, David Dwyer and Gary Mongey, has established its practice on the forefront of design. With a hands-on approach using detailed models, technical expertise and creative execution in the presentation and design medium, Box Architecture reflects an ethos of the highest principle. David's background as an architectural technician and Gary's as a carpenter provides mix of ideas and experience. The aim of the practice is to be creative with simple technologies to achieve inspirational aesthetics in the built form. This technique has been employed on a variety of projects including award-winning domestic extensions, doctor's surgeries, corporate offices, one-off houses to a crèche, and housing developments. The practice has also been short listed in competitions. Thus, reflecting the versatility in the application of the Box methodology to a wide range of projects. Quality rather than rapid expansion remains the focus in order to retain sustainability well into the future and keep the practice at the vanguard of architectural design.

Dun Laoghaire Garage Conversion
Garage conversions are probably the most common of all domestic extensions. In most instances the design solution ranges from a simple match of the existing house to plain appalling. This solution is entirely different. The brief was to provide an additional living space by converting an existing garage. The project is driven by its relationship with nature, making a physical link to the external environment. This is achieved by creating an inside/outside space by projecting the horizontal plane of the ceiling beyond the enclosure, and by continuing the floor plane to the exterior. The opening of the pivot door becoming an element which is both inside and outside reinforces this. Enclosure is created by the strategic placement of planes, positioned to manipulate light penetration, creating different luminance during the course of the day and the seasons. This creates awareness in the occupant of the nature of the path of light Ð the concept of a light-time clock.

The clients, Carol and Oliver Whelan, said: We are very pleased with the architect's creative response to the given brief, attention to detail, and provision of a building beyond pure utility. The manner in which the light moves around the space throughout the course of the day is most pleasing, and makes the room usable for many functions. The relationship with the garden creates the sense of two living spaces rather than just one. The sense of height created by the use of windows in the roof gives the sense of a conservatory without the disadvantage. The use of contemporary materials, without being out of context, and the insertion of the building into the existing landscape contribute to the success of the building. This simple garage conversion won several regional awards including the prestigious RIAI Award.

State-of-the-Art, Crèche, Carpenterstown, Dublin
This is a 5,000sq ft, purpose-built crèche designed for sixty to seventy children. The project known as 'Magic Years' forms part of a development which incorporates a residential cluster to the west of the site nestled within a suburban housing estate.

The brief was to provide a 'home away from home'. The approach to the building is by way of a shared car park, drop-off point and then through a series of external spaces to a courtyard with an orchard within, close to the heart of the building. One passes between low and tall forms into the central double-height hall formed by five brick elements where pigeon holes are situated for children's belongings. This establishes a hierarchy of overlapping layers giving access to the four play rooms adjacent to the exterior of the building where the smallest of the spaces connect to the garden. Timber screens separate the rooms from the hall, forming spaces at the scale of a child for displaying the children's arts works and informal sittings. The brick elements provide each of the children's rooms with changing and eating facilities. Windows are shifted within the wall thickness to express the mass of the brick elements. Different staircases give access to the dormitories and a balcony at first floor which creates the perception of a maze for the child. Roof lights are used in differing orientations throughout the building to animate and promote awareness of moving light. The rhythm of spaces is extended to the external by means of a low canopy which doubles up as a play space in wet weather and continues through the landscaping treatment which results in dense foliage to the southern boundary.

The client commented: "Are we pleased with the result? Perhaps the best people to answer that might be the parents who have proffered such insightful remarks as 'fabulous' and 'wow'. Better still, maybe we should ask the children in our care, whose happy faces and stimulated engagements tell it all.

Industrial unit, Kells, Co. Meath
Box Architectures project of a fit-out of an industrial unit in Kells, Co. Meath is selected for its third Irish Architectural RIAI Regional Award in 2003.The project involved the fitting out for processing, of a mid-terraced standard industrial unit belonging to Archaeological Development Services Ltd. (ADS), a Company providing archaeological services to the construction and development sector. The existing structure is a portal frame, access is both from the front and rear and a mezzanine to the front leaves a double height void at the rear of the building. Box have transformed a mundane industrial unit into something of a surprise.

The brief required that an industrial feel be retained and that the use of natural daylight be maximised. The design approach was to insert a series of objects into the building around which the plan evolved, denoting the building program. On the ground floor the reception and administrative areas are held to the front. A laboratory is in the centre of the building flanked on both sides by utility elements containing vertical circulation piercing the mezzanine slab, toilets, dark room and air abrasive room, allowing daylight to penetrate deep into the volume by retaining translucent roof lights. The preliminary processing and storage area is to the rear in the two-storey void. A shaft of light filters down the original stairs indicates access to the mezzanine level. One ascends to a floating plate which gathers all the formal functions. Rooms are delineated by clear glass walls and interrupted by timber door planes, creating a flexible open plan in the centre of the building. The finishes are minimal with every detail being no more than is required.

Clissman House, Ringsend, Dublin
The client had recently purchased a mid-terrace, red brick, Edwardian house when he approached the practice. The rear of the gardens of the house to the west and the two houses to the east formed part of the plot forming a T shaped site. The brief was to renovate the existing house and to provide additional accommodation to consist of a home-office, a new kitchen with separate utility space and bathroom facilities at first floor level. This was all to be achieved to include the retention of the existing garage whilst creating an open plan arrangement on the ground floor. The front of the house is directly onto the street and has a southerly aspect. The challenge required for the project to create a coherent whole of the unusual site plan. This was achieved by the introduction of three court yards bounded by the existing house and garage, and the new part which is conceived as a series of volumes stacked up and juxtaposed to gain maximum use of natural daylight having regard to the northerly aspect. This is manifest by the bathroom box clad in Zinc with the kitchen gathered under, spanning from the existing house to the new utility block which is placed at the node of the cruciform. A plate is placed over the whole of this junction to form the home office space. A roof light is placed in the north west of this plate such that the pace can achieve the benefits of moving light all day.

Luke's Room, Dublin
The brief for this project required an additional bedroom and bathroom by extension to an artisan cottage, whose plot and location presented considerable spatial constraints. It was decided to add a contemporary structure complementing the existing older building. The new element is set parallel to the site boundary leaving a side entrance passage. Triangular spaces result between the geometries of the new and existing structures forming the entrance link and garden courtyard. The timber structure was chosen to maximise internal space and reinforce the the concept of disparate elements. Access between the new and existing required the reorganisation of the existing kitchen. The building is separated from the existing house by means of 100mm wide glass slot providing a snippet view in anticipation of what is behind as one moves around from the front of the existing house. This also allows a beam of light to move across the floor further highlighting the tentative separation of the elements. A simple stone step, handle and horizontal cut in the facade marks the entrance to the building. The entrance is a tall narrow void contained by pivot doors allowing continuity of the rooms throughout the new element. Access to the existing house is through an opening in the timber structure into a triangular copper roofed link space. The roof of this is set at a lower level reinforcing the integrity of the box and respecting the scale of the original house. >From here views and access to the rear triangular courtyard, garden and kitchen are made. Openings are used which are either concealed when closed, as the doors to both courtyards, or which slide into the thickness of the structure when open as the picture window at the raised garden section. The roof gutters are concealed within the cladding thickness to maintain the rigor of the box. Storage space within the new structure and the reorganised kitchen is finished smoothly and with plain colour to emphasise scale and structural mass. Roof lights are positioned over the bath, bed and wardrobe allowing a view to the sky or to the traveling stars. These openings and slots create a movement of light washing the walls, instilling an awareness of the time of day and the annual cycle of the sun, a solar timepiece.

These developments highlight the variation and capabilities of the Practice. From small domestic projects to major commercial ventures Box Architecture have the foresight and innovation to create outstanding visions. The introduction of new technologies combined with traditional standards ensures buildings which will stand the test of time, creating a legacy of quality design by which the Practice now stands. This is only a small selection of works completed by the practice. They will be launching a new website in September, www.box.ie were a greater selection of their works can be seen.