Dermot Bannon: Your home may be bigger than you thought

Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Simon 'Open Door' architectural consultations raise €100k for homelessness charity

Sun, 14 Aug, 2022 - 07:15

Eve Kelliher

Describing his longtime connection with the Open Door campaign, Dermot Bannon compared it to “speed dating”.

We were talking as he was about to commence the 2022 series, organised annually by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) to benefit homelessness charity the Simon Communities of Ireland.

“Aha, that’s going to be your headline, isn’t it?” he joked.

Interiors in a retrofitted home by Brennan Furlong Architects, one of the practices that took part in this year's RIAI Simon Open Door campaign. Picture: Richard Hatch Photography

But Ireland’s most high-profile architect and presenter of TV series like Room To Improve has a passion for the annual campaign, which this year raised over €100,000 to help tackle the housing and homeless crisis. This latest tally brings the total raised, in the popular fundraiser’s 22-year history, to €1,430,000.

The RIAI Simon Open Door funds drive, which ran both in person and online from May 4-14, saw members of the public partake in over 1,000 consultations with RIAI-registered architects nationwide in return for a €95 donation.

CONSULTATIONS

The hour-long consultations took place both online and in person and all funds raised went directly to the Simon Community’s services.

How did Dermot get involved?

“Before I did Room To Improve, I was working for another practice and I used to take part in the Simon Open door event. I’ve been taking part in it since its inception,” he said.

“Then I was asked if I would mind becoming an ambassador. It’s a great day. There’s a bit of a festival feel about it — as an architect, you’re getting to meet people, and there are new people in every hour.

“It’s a bit like speed dating.”

Interiors in the Dairy Farm retrofit in County Wicklow. This project was by Studio Red Architects and arose out of an RIAI Simon Open Door consultation. Picture: Peter Grogan

Many people “have lots of questions for architects but they don’t feel their project is big enough”, he added.

“I’ve often had people come into me with very small problems and they can go away and find they don’t need to engage an architect — the architect might have solved the problem in the consultation,” said Dermot.

“Lots of people come in with the need for an extension,” said Dermot.

A farmhouse retrofit in County Wicklow by Studio Red Architects. The project arose out of an RIAI Simon Open Door consultation. Peter Grogan

But the good news is, homeowners may discover they might have more space than they thought.

“Many people are not using 80% of their house at all,” added Dermot.

“I often meet people who are going through milestones, suddenly after years there are just two of them, their children are reared — they are downsizers who have reared all their children, paid for them through college and now it’s their turn to enjoy life and they have a big clatter of rooms and they are trying to bring all these rooms back to life.

“It’s often simply about reconfiguring their rooms.”

PREPARE

So how should homeowners prepare for a consultation with an architect?

Bring plenty of photographs and lots of plans, is Dermot’s advice.

Interiors in a retrofitted home by Brennan Furlong Architects, one of the practices that took part in the RIAI Simon Open Door campaign. Picture: Richard Hatch Photography

“As an architect, I examine the whole house. If someone comes into me and says, I need to put in an extension, I want to try to get a picture of it.”

Gather up “as much information as you can as well as photos of the house,” he added. “What are the nice views; we’ve got phones now, find out where north is in relation to the house, everyone’s got a compass on their phone so there’s no excuse.”

OPEN-PLAN

Dermot remains a firm fan of open-plan or broken-plan living.

In fact, it’s the open-plan area in his own home that is his “happy space”, he said.

“I love our open-plan space. We have a little spot at the front and we have a couch that we meant to throw out but then lockdown happened and the dog sits up on it and I sit there, and there’s a view out to the church opposite,” he added.

“It just goes to show that you can be in a separate area in an open-plan space.”

And creating alcoves and good use of lighting are what make open-plan and broken-plan spaces work best, he said.

“The kitchen table has to be a space where you can do homework but also during the pandemic you needed to have a takeaway there, so you could turn down the lighting for instance if you needed to create a special space.

TRICKS

“Lighting, furniture, positioning of doors — there are lots of little tricks to making open-plan spaces work. I don’t think open-plan is dead at all.” That said, he is also interested in the concept of a “getting away from it all room — somewhere you can Zoom call and watch TV.”

Dermot Bannon in RTE's 'Room to Improve', where he worked on a deep retrofit of a Co Wicklow home. Picture: Ruth Maria Photography

When renovating his own house, Dermot says he was able to use “all the lessons I learned over the years”.

“ Room To Improve was a gift, in a certain way,” he added. “I now know the perfect layout for a kitchen, because I’ve done so many. I know what works.

"I know the same for a living room — I know what makes a cosy living room and what makes a warehouse.”

Charlotte Sheridan, RIAI president, thanked the architects and the public who “have embraced the campaign”.

“It’s wonderful to see so many architects get involved and use their skills to support such a worthy cause,” she said.

“Good architecture creates safe and welcoming spaces, and we are delighted that the funds raised will allow the Simon Community to provide stable homes to those who need them most.”

HOMELESSNESS

Homelessness has been heightened by the pandemic, according to Stephanie Nolan, Simon Community.

“Shockingly, during this health crisis the number of single homeless adults increased 7%, but with supporters like RIAI we can continue to deliver vital services to those who need them most,” she added.

Kathryn Meghen, RIAI CEO, Dermot Bannon, architect, Stephanie Nolan, Simon Community.

The Simon Communities supports over 18,000 men, women and children and its services include homelessness prevention, tenancy sustainment and resettlement.