The house carries with it a dimension that lies beyond mere instrumentality. It is not simply a machine for living in. It is what constitutes the private realm. And it is the accumulated perimeter of the private realm that shapes the image of the public realm. As such the house is fundamental building block in the formation of the city and the conventions that govern it.

The intention behind this project was to interrogate this assertion and to reflect on ideas surrounding privacy, publicity, domesticity and reprieve. 

The project itself entailed the design of a house for a scholar. It was an urban house and was located on a street that lies in close proximity to the grounds of one of Dublin city’s chief universities, Trinity College. The brief stipulated that the house provide maximum seclusion in an otherwise busy urban environment and the means for one to work in solitude.

The final building is one that is completely private. All spaces and openings are poised to face inwards so as to provide a heightened sense privacy and reprieve from the outside world. The exterior of the house does no more than provide the necessary surface to complete a terrace, thereby contributing to the overall formation of the street to which it belongs.

In this way the house is seen negatively in contrast to the street. Where the street offers openness and transparency the house provides closeness and shade.