Country Villa

Type: Private Residential

Status: Tender stage

Location: Limerick, Ireland

The clients for this project inherited a site on the family farm in rural country Limerick. The site, which consisted of the ruined foundations of a farmhouse and outbuildings, is located in a flat agricultural landscape, bordered to the south by a river, and surrounded by impressive mature Oaks, Ash and Willow. The setting was strongly redolent of that of the Villa Foscari; which became a driving precedent for our proposal.

The clients, both professionals working in London, wanted a home base which both respected the site's history and that of the local vernacular. They also desired an interior open-plan living arrangement which would cater to the more modern urban lifestyle to which they had become accustomed, and where they could indulge their love of plants and music.

Our starting point for the project was a study of both the ruined archaeology of the farmyard, and of the local building type of the 'large farmer's house'. Such houses, recognisable as stark prisms in the local landscape, tend to be Palladian in character; based on three or five-bay formal facades, axially orientated towards an approach road.

The existing approach to be retained was from the north, where we proposed a symmetrical front facade, inserted into the stone walls of the farmyard. A generous double height entrance hall lined in hardwood veneer, contains the majority of storage for the house, giving onto a staircase lit from above, and providing diagonal enfilade views into the living spaces.

The house sits on a raised terrace, with changes in level demarcating a series of highly interconnected interior and exterior spaces at ground level; some defined by planting and ruined walls, and others defined by the new architecture; in a patio house-type arrangement.

In order to maximise both the dramatic views of the river bend and natural light we designed a large open plan area to the south-west. This openness was achieved through the integration of a concrete post-and beam structural loggia at ground floor, integrated into the system of garden walls, with extensive glazing supported by structural timber fins.

Spaces in the large open plan area are rendered distinct not through walls, but through changes in floor finish, lighting, furnishing and use. Thick velour curtains are used to close off space when more privacy is required. Service spaces are confined to the east, with ease of access to a kitchen garden.

This is a house which delights in having it both ways ; decorum and tradition out front, with the ease and pleasure of daily life celebrated inside.