How a family transformed a warehouse into a dream home

Changing Spaces: Stephanie and Graham O'Sullivan turned a commercial property into a three-bedroom residence

Sat, 03 Jul, 2021 - 18:03

Eve Kelliher, Home Editor

Creating a spacious, zen home, on a bijou site, in one of the most densely populated parts of Ireland is some achievement.

But that’s just what the O’Sullivans did.

The husband-and-wife team of interior designer Stephanie and architect Graham, together with their daughter Sally and Sofie, moved into their dream home, a former warehouse, in Cabra, Dublin, on the first day of lockdown in 2020.

Coal Lane House before renovation. Picture: Paul Scannell

The design and build would be a challenge to most.

The property is set among around 26 back gardens and boundary walls, near a laneway.

Yet, as architect Dermot Bannon noted approvingly when the residence featured recently in Dermot Bannon’s Super Small Spaces on RTÉ One, inside it is “an oasis of calm”.

The concept arose from what was already there.

Coal Lane House as it is now. Picture: Aisling McCoy

“Here was an old warehouse, so it was obviously an old industrial site — we wanted to make it a home,” says Stephanie.

“Because it was so urban, and because it was an actual warehouse, it felt natural to go down that industrial route.”

Limerick native Stephanie (née O’Carroll) and Graham, from Naas, Co Kildare, lived and worked for several years in London.

“We both love Brutalist architecture,” she says. Graham designed the School of Music at the Barbican Centre in London, and both he and Stephanie were influenced by their work on many commercial projects in London.

They bought their Dublin property in 2015. “We moved back to Ireland from London in January 2014 and started looking,” she says.

The warehouse was, in effect, “a glorified shed” she adds.

At the start of the build: Graham and Stephanie with Sally and Sofie.

They kept the perimeter walls and went on to transform it into a three-bedroom family home.

“We have two children and were both working fulltime so we were working on our build during afternoons and evenings, bit by bit,” she says.

The property is located off the North Circular Road, near an extremely busy junction.

Why did it spark their interest?

“We didn’t have many options, to be honest! We were very disheartened by the housing options,” says Stephanie.

“The warehouse was the first and only commercial site we looked at and we just went for it as it was a far better option than a house in our opinion.”

What were their first thoughts when they saw it?

“It was quite a grim but interesting old unit,” says Stephanie.

“There was something so appealing about it because of where it was and its scale. There was so much character to the old brick and green corrugated metal. It also had the most interesting patina old metal door.”

The concept and design ideas flowed from there.

Stephanie O'Sullivan. Picture: Aisling McCoy

“We were able to draw from the interesting features the warehouse had and used that as our starting point,” she says.

Concrete and timber are the main materials and the monolithic feel makes for a restful experience throughout. “It’s like it’s hewn out of one big chunk of concrete,” is how Dermot Bannon described it.

“Every shaft of light, everything that happens in here that’s different, is really intensified everything is monolithic and anything you throw into that is really heightened.”

“Calm and unconventional” is how Stephanie regards their home.

They wanted an “industrial but warm” feel and that’s what they achieved.

Favourite spot: The bedroom overlooking the courtyard. Picture: Aisling McCoy

As for their favourite space?

“Our bedroom our indoor courtyard,” says Stephanie without hesitation.

Ah yes. The bedroom occupies most of the ground floor. And the courtyard is hard-working yet glorious space, while floor-to-ceiling glazing ensures light floods in.

Upstairs also the couple used “a few tricks, with privacy shutters and bits and pieces, just to limit overlooking”, adds Graham.

Also on this level is a laundry room, much admired by Dermot Bannon. “It’s ingenious, it gets rid of the wardrobes out of the kids’ bedrooms,” he said. It has a balcony where several clothes horses can be set up permanently to air clothes.

So, does Stephanie have any advice for others embarking on a build or renovation?

“I would say, make all the decisions before you break ground,” she says. “Otherwise, stress happens and the costs go up. Nothing really caught us off guard. We had everything picked out down to the door handles. I knew from the start what lightbulbs I would be fitting, put it that way!”