Landscape Room Glencar : Architecture Information

Landscape Room, Glencar, Sligo 2008 LID Architecture LANDSCAPE ROOM : Architects Comments Photography : Christopher Heaney + LiD Architecture The project is located in Sligo, perched above Glencar Lake to the south and surrounded by the limestone cliffs and tabletops of Benbulbin Mountain to the north. The existing limestone cottage had a defensive relationship to this dramatic landscape, which was experienced only through the small apertures in thick limestone walls. A strategy was sought to retain the protective qualities of the existing cottage but mediate between the intimacy of its spaces and the sublime scale of the greater landscape. This took the form of a "Landscape Room", combining the qualities and expectations of internal and external spaces. The overhanging roof, glass screens, out-door fireplace, and limestone terrace articulate a corner space opening up to the southwest. The large bi-folding door allows the adjacent internal sunspace to be used continuously with this landscape terrace. Climatically, the combination of sun penetration and protection from wind and light rain has made this outdoor space habitable throughout the Irish summer with the limestone of the walls and terrace holding the suns warmth into the evenings. The overhanging butterfly roof was used to tune view lines to the scale of the surrounding mountains. The elements of water, vegetation, and stone (Lake, Woodland and Cliffs) visible from this landscape room were articulated in the terrace in the form of the pond, planted bed, and limestone seating platforms. This creates a visual dialogue between the micro-landscape of the terrace and the macro-landscape of the surrounding valley. For example the pond in the landscape room takes the rainwater from the roof and draws the eye and the mind to the lake beyond. The interlock of the new roof geometries with the existing cottage form brings a vertical scale to its internal spaces and allowed the insertion of new joinery elements combining stair, bench, and kitchen. These interventions spatially re-organize the existing cottage, simplifying its patterns of use and allowing the penetration of natural light. RIAI Awards 2009 : Shortlist Completed Apr 2008 Landscape Room 40 m2 Refurbishment 160 m2 Glencar house Sligo images / information from LID Architecture