This project involved reimagining a 200m2 1950s dormer bungalow as a contemporary family home. Due to its age and exposed location overlooking the sea, the house required significant upgrades. Our clients, who had returned to Ireland with their three young children after living abroad for several years, had a strong emotional connection to the house, as it had originally been owned by their grandparents. This connection formed a core part of the brief from the outset.
We were formally engaged by our clients in early 2020 and presented our initial designs in March of that year - just before the world changed. Like many of our projects at the time, work was paused for about six months as our clients assessed the potential impact of COVID-19 on their business and project funding. Once some clarity emerged, the project resumed, and in May 2021, planning permission was granted.
Over the next 12 months, we worked with the other members of the design team to develop the detailed design. During this period, both our clients and design team members experienced the loss of close family members, a sadness that deepened the significance and poignancy at the heart and soul of the project - creating a family home.
A contractor, who had previously worked with us, was invited to tender for the project. After agreeing on a contract sum, construction began in mid-2022. As we had expected, the contractor fully embraced the project, bringing a personal investment to the daily work on-site. The project was completed, and our clients moved back in by late 2023.
The design of Four Winds emerged as our response to the concept of “home,” along with reflections on the intergenerational nature of human existence, relationships, and the enduring imprint people leave on the environment.
The house sits on the northern edge of the semi-circular Dublin Bay, a coastline with evidence of human settlement spanning at least six thousand years. Remnants include middens in Sutton, a passage tomb on the grounds of Howth Castle, and a promontory fort near the Bailey Lighthouse.
The shallowness of the bay made navigation treacherous for centuries. Tidal movement of sands along with storms that sweep over the mountains to the south, crashing across the bay, have caused over 1,500 documented shipwrecks. The bodies of unidentified sailors washed ashore were buried in the nearby Mariners Church graveyard. The church, which served as a navigational aid to sailors entering the bay, remains a prominent landmark. It is the only feature noted between Clontarf and Sutton on Charles Price’s 1730 “Correct Chart of the City and Harbour of Dublin,” and its ruins still stand on a low rise overlooking the sea.
Nearby, the Red Rock Martello Tower stands as a remnant of a series of fortifications built in 1804 to guard against a potential Napoleonic invasion that never materialized. The towers’ 2.4-metre-thick walls were designed to withstand cannon fire.
In response to this rich history, Four Winds was conceived as a shelter from the storm – a cozy sanctuary where our clients could find comfort and security while gazing out over the bay. From this vantage point, they can watch rainclouds break over the mountains 10 kilometres to the southwest, knowing that in 15 minutes, the first wind-driven sprays of seawater will hit the front windows.
The house is intended as a reassuring bulwark – a symbol of constancy amid the passage of time and the vagaries of the weather. To reflect this, we chose exposed, cast in-situ concrete as the primary structural and organizational material. This is complemented by softer elements, such as Accoya timber for external joinery and charred larch for the dormers. Over time, these materials have weathered and softened, displaying a vulnerability that contrasts with their durability against the elements.
The plan follows a cruciform layout, formed by four concrete pillars and two concrete beams. The beams span front to back, framing the primary, dual aspect living space. They draw the eye forward toward the bay, while one also extends backward, continuing into the garden and folding back on itself and creating a serene retreat which houses the bedrooms that overlook the calm of the sheltered rear courtyard.
From the outset, we envisioned the house as an integral part of its surroundings, designed to rest gently within its setting. Collaborating with the landscaper, we developed the concept of extending the wider landscape into the site. Inspired by the adjacent rocky shoreline, boulders are placed throughout the site, interspersed with sea grasses and other local species. This approach draws the beach across the road and into the garden, with the boulders gradually decreasing in size as they reach the rear courtyard, where a more lush, sheltered aesthetic takes over.
The primary circulation route, which bisects the main, dual aspect living space, was resolved with the introduction of two large, matching sliding doors positioned behind the two concrete beams. When closed, the doors appear as blank panels within the wall, framing the space, with their bespoke scooped handles barely visible. When open, they provide both views and access, connecting the main entrance to the more private bedroom areas. The upper level is reached via a curving staircase, mirroring the bay window opposite and inspired by the design of Annaghlee, located near Cootehill, Co. Cavan, and created by Richard Cassels in the mid-1700s.
