2010 – Plastic House, Dublin

Architects: Architecture Republic

plastichouse

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The house is on a terrace whose split-section is native to Georgian Dublin; a grand parlour to the front with smaller rooms to the rear at half-levels one up and one down from the street. The project begins with removal – of the existing extension, internal walls and earth – bringing the entire house to lower ground-floor level. This opens the volume of the house as a double-height vessel, full of light. A cruciform object is inserted; a piece of architectural furniture which spreads tree-like from a concentrated base. Services such as kitchen, toilet, storage and stairwell are housed within this trunk – providing for living and dining in the spaces around it. The insertion is constructed with polycarbonate and steel. This lightweight structure is also the primary source of light in the evening – inset fittings cause its translucent surfaces to illuminate the spaces, which it generates above, below and between the object and its container.