Take a look at this newly-built, one-off dream house, in Carrigaline
“It’s in your head 24 hours a day,” says the co-owner of this Carrigaline home.
Homes in this development, about 1km uphill from the town, are aspirational manor houses, with a privileged air, set on one of the most coveted commuter flight paths Cork has to offer.
Launched to an assuredly executive audience in 2004, each of these homes was a one-off build and it’s cheering to note that owners and architects looked up from their plans to consider what was already standing as the plots were seized and sculpted.
Pale renders, confident wide footprints, Georgian led double fronts, and weighty stone wings are noticeable favourites with the residents.
For all their aesthetic differences, landscaping choices and sizings (2,500 sq ft was obligatory for planning) there is an urbane cohesion which makes the close quarters of the existing and undeniably large 52 suburban homes bearable.
Recently completed by CEA Architects &Engineers with Guerin Construction as the main contractor on site, this property is home to two young professionals and their rambunctious boys.
Renting within a distant squint of this prize plot for five years, they had walked away from a quizzical triangular site a stone’s lob away.
Undaunted, the family pounced when presented with a great price for this home in 2012, with all contributions by the local council already paid.
The appointed architects are known widely in the design community for their residential and commercial work.
According to the owners, the firm had shared insightful advice with them during their first disappointment, and as a result they were enthusiastic to work with the practice.
The family’s 3,700 sq ft house was completed in October of 2014, and features, seven bedrooms, three reception rooms, five bathrooms with a number of versatile bonus rooms that doubtless they will grow into with their boys.
L-shaped, the front of this house offers three very distinct volumes each in character with the whole —a traditional form with striking modern elements.
The main body of the house runs north to south, in a familiar gabled design rendered in soft white with a central two storey column of glazing right to the roof.
A monumental projection on the left side with another gable roof is finished in formidable, stacked Liscannor stone and stepped out with a square bay window on the ground floor.
Tucked between these chapters is a charming, flat roofed, single storey section sheltering the elegant outer hall.
The front door by Munster Joinery makes a polite nod to Georgian, flanked by narrow pier style windows of classic proportions.
Paving in this grassless landscaping is by Ballygarvan Stonecraft & Paving, in a range of concrete sets softening to weighty sandstone slabs — painterly on a wet day.
Stepping through the gentrified outer hall through the soaring glazed partition is the home’s signature moment — a magnificent floating staircase.
It darts up in a series of energising, angular movements to a square mezzanine landing, and onto the third attic storey.
The result is at least a dozen giddy spots ascending, descending and moving to and from the surrounding bedrooms to enjoy the frozen music of architecture that’s there to be lived, loved and enjoyed.
Long slot windows on a cloistered section of northerly corridor, pull you to a stop, lost in fascinating rhythms and shifting swatches of light.
As requested the stair was fabricated in sound-swallowing formed concrete leading on to upper hollow core concrete floors.
Flanked in sections of closed panels, an applied top rail in silken, toffee-dark walnut is exquisitely crafted by the Guerin team down to a minute shadow-gap.
Walnut is repeated in the floor of the hall and belted to the internal doors and internal and external doors.
It’s a sharp vaguely Art Deco sophisticate.
Thick clear glass units supplied by Cork Glass, were used as features including a delicious corner cut out on the first landing (which cleverly repeats the corner glazing to primary windows on the first floor),, and full glass balusters for the final rise to the third storey.
Used exclusively, glass panels on a stairs can give a highly revealing and starkly commercial finish — be warned.
The architects quite rightly insisted on this last baluster in glass to pull light down into the landings, stair and hall below.
Sean Corcoran of CEA Engineers & Architects sums up the work by his colleagues in unguarded praise: “it’s a piece of furniture really, and sitting in space.”
The rest of the house is suspended markedly from this playful atrium.
The rear of the property is wrapped in three principal rooms with nine-feet high ceilings, which follow the sun east to west.
Showcased to the clients using BIM 3D technology, the flow made sense for their needs.
Concertina and pocket doors allow each of these areas to stand alone — privacy and separation that will become essential as their lads stretch out.
The painted kitchen on the left of the kitchen/dining room is a tour de force by Brian O’Driscoll of O’Driscoll Kitchens in Midleton.
Colours are restful, modern neutrals of feathery greys, ocean blue, and deep slate, supported by glossy, wide walnut planks underfoot from Wood Flooring Ireland.
This space is marked out by an island as generous as a king sized bed, topped in a polished timber counter and Silestone by Hickey’s Stoneworks.
Classic in-frame wood cabinetry is terraced into one wall and finished in Downpipe by Farrow & Ball.
A long run of generous base cabinets tailored around the sink are fully enjoyed without a distracting cliff face of hanging units — a key trend this year. Pigment rich paints in Purbeck Stone and Colortrend Silver Moonlight are used to great spatial effect.
A horizontal broad monochrome striped wallpaper also by Farrow & Ball is protected from the over-sized commercial style holster spray faucet with a clear glass panel, again by Cork Glass.
Slot openings either side of the sink focus softly on a reflective cut out of render on the adjacent property, increasing natural light and delivering visual escape in what would otherwise be an unremitting run of wall.
The dining area is set in a modest projection finished outdoors in that stacked Liscannor stone, and includes a deep rectangular light well illuminating a contemporary scandi-industrial furniture setting.
Floor to ceiling windows and doors here and elsewhere are triple glazed and to passive standard by Munster Joinery. Even in veiled sight of neighbours and a busy road, the atmosphere is hushed and protective.
A rangy playroom in the south corner includes chunky painted bespoke box style shelving incorporating a nestling spot for the concertina doors when off-duty.
Colourful vertical blinds were supplied along with all window treatments by Catherine at Interior Solutions, Carrigaline.
“I can’t say enough about her,” says the owner.
“She has books of wallpaper to marry with the curtains and blinds, which made the addition of features to the boys’ rooms effortless.”
Travelling back to the front of the house, the final of the triad of rooms, a cosy lounge connects to the hall by a door and long vertical internal window.
Another familiar CEA inclusion, this internal slot window is etched on the other side in walnut architrave, and set high enough to be out of the way of furniture, drinking from the pillar of light washing down around the staircase.
Across the hall is another living space set in the stone-towered section that could serve as a study or downstairs bedroom.
The guest shower room is sophisticated, five-star quality in a selection of porcelain beauties by City Tiles & Bathrooms, the brick-style wall tiling shifting to the shower with a bold change of colour.
The second story hosts four laughingly generous bedrooms, one at each corner, and a family bathroom.
The master suite includes a fully appointed dressing room, a must-have for the modern working couple.
Tucked away in the airing cupboard is an inspiring made-to-suit inclusion by Guerin and the female client — a laundry chute straight down to a basket in a cupboard in the utility room downstairs.
“I would advice first time builders to think about first what they don’t want and then work back towards what they do,” adds the owner with wry humour.
The third story in the cut roof-space has fascinating views from the landing over the character staircase and lobby leading on to two rangy bonus rooms with eight-foot high ceilings divided by another large bathroom.
The detailing complete with certified fire doors allows for these to be used and described as proper bedrooms (take note if you are converting) and the finish is faultless.
Two banked Velux windows to the back of the roof allow light in an uninterrupted cascade and flipped up, a standing adult can put head and shoulders out into the air.
CEA Engineers & Architects staff includes qualified energy rating consultants.
Happily even a huge house like this is no longer cost-prohibitive to run, with insulation levels deliberately exceeding part L to future-proof the project.
The heating system fired by a natural gas condenser boiler teamed to a sealed pressure water system feeding, UFH downstairs and radiators in the two upper stories was not needed from April until October last.
The owners estimate their space and water heating costs to be in the area of €65 a month when in full service, and the house is a masonry energy aristocrat with a BER of A3.
The choice of builder is key when building your home.
Sean Corcoran of CEA Engineers & Architects says personalities really count: “Of course reliability, experience and practical considerations like eliminating hidden extras are important. but interpersonal problems can ruin a build.
"I’ve found that people who are simply sound, easy to get along with individuals, tend to be the same way in their work, and the atmosphere on site follows.”
“Niall Guerin (Builder) kept me calm,” says the female owner.
“Even in the one moment where I suppose I lost the plot — over of all things — an internal door. I genuinely enjoyed the experience, even though everything was happening in our lives at once. Given the chance, I would build again in the morning.”
Now that’s refreshing.
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