丨爱尔兰都柏林丨O’Donnell + Tuomey

Leinster House Press Reception Room

Dublin

Ireland

An existing stairwell to the former College of Art, landlocked within other developments in the northern corner of Leinster House, is converted for audio-visual presentation and a television recording studio.

Groups of school children are introduced to the workings of parliament by educational videos and discussions with their local politicians.

The existing space, approximately nine metres cubed, with a central oval rooflight and a single Georgian door to a covered arcade in the forecourt of Leinster House, had become the left-over space between recent rebuilding works for parliamentary offices and the National Library. The strategy was to insert an auditorium, a democratic space, and to locate technical services and recording studio in its undercroft.

A fragmentary amphitheatre is carved out of portland stone, standing slightly skewed within the existing shell, its symmetry distorted by the differently fixed positions of rooflight, door, lectern and projection screen.

Area:

100m2

Address:

Kildare St, Dublin 2

GPS:

53.3406° N, 6.2540° W

End Year:

2002

Category:

Cultural

Community

Adaptation / Re-use

Conservation

Public

Completed

Awards:

RIAI Award

AAI Award

Exhibitions:

American Academy of Arts and Letters 2015 Awards: O’Donnell + Tuomey

Dublin, 29 Oct  – 9 Nov 2015

New Irish Architecture – Rebuilding the Republic

Leuven, Belgium

Publications:

Irish Architecture, The RIAI Annual Review, Vol. 2, RIAI,

Sandra Andrea O’Connell (Editor)

O’Donnell + Tuomey: Selected Works, 2006

Irish Architect

, No 189 2003

, Old and New

New Irish Architecture 18, AAI Awards 2003, Gandon Editions