Bungalow Bliss
We worked with Bobby and Ciara in this reconfiguration and renovation of this 1980’s bungalow. Bobby and Ciara wanted a comfortable energy efficient home that maximised the spectacular views of Blessington Lake and to create a ‘Great Room’ for them to start family life in. They are very design orientated and were looking for a high quality, well-designed, contemporary home to match their aspirations.
The bungalow, like so many dotted across the country, was taken from the pages of ‘Bungalow Bliss’, produced by Jack Fitzsimons in 1970. Fitzsimons designs referenced the traditional Irish cottage in form, and like its forebearers were built with an economy of material and with the hands of friends and family.
The ‘Great Room’ is conceived as a sanctuary space that reinterprets and infuses the bungalow with lost elements of the Irish vernacular while also celebrating the people who made this family home over 40 years ago.
We open up the living space with a curved vaulted ceiling. We reintroduce the lost depth of the cottage walls which we finish in a simple painted timber lining. The timber adds texture and a sense of enclosure while also integrating storage, kitchen, and doors. We reimagine the traditional hearth as place for people to gather around a new enlarged window and the view of Blessington Lake. A series of figurative elements are introduced, a granite seat from the neighbouring quarry, a glulam column acts a “Spy Wall”, breaking up the open plan space while also acting as memory of the timber struts of the original roof. The corridor is vaulted and windows enlarged which change the houses relationship with daylight, the views and the landscape. A new polished concrete floor runs throughout the home.
The upgrade of the fabric includes a new insulated floor, external and attic insulation, improved airtightness and underfloor heating which is powered by a new air to water heating system, all of which brought the house from a G to A BER rated home.
The project featured on RTE’s ‘My Bungalow Bliss’ Full details of the renovation and suppliers are available here.
