"...its layout responsive to seasonal changes, its form and finish respectful of the surrounding landscape."
"...marvelous reinterpretation of the Irish bungalow in the landscape, which introduces a particular lightness and feeling for scale and detail..."
"The location and sizing of windows, along with John Dorman's careful orientation of different parts of the house..., means high levels of passive solar gain."
"The recently completed scheme is garnering plaudits from both the worlds of architecture and conservation."
Assessor's comments:
"...a remarkably successful juxtaposition between old and new."
"...a delightful house full of light and air and style..."
"...connection with the landscape...; capturing as much sun as possible...; creation of a relaxed and flexible environment that respects the landscape. Dorman has combined all of these..."
"...this home has been orientated to maximize solar gain and minimize heat loss...has high-performance windows,... high levels of insulation, geothermal underfloor heating and a heat recovery vent system... ."
"This house crucially makes the most of views and weather and respects the landscape."
Assessor's comments:
"...there's a nice lucidity about the way in which space flows. It's not doing very much, but it doesn't make any fuss about what it does do."
"Its main quality is one of carefulness."
"...it had to be 'as light as possible'..."
"...'open up and extend' the living spaces in the newly landscaped garden..."
"One of the most important design aspects was...creation of a level of privacy..."
"...the vines covering the pergola...will act as a screen of privacy, not unlike the decorative wooden mashrabiyya screens found in islamic architecture."
"The owners of this light-filled studio are delighted...with the look and function..., agreeing that 'the architects' solution has admirably met all of our requirements."
"Any school pupil will tell you without painful subdiviosion...8 into 3 just won't go...Before taking up the lump hammer, other owners of period homes would do well to learn the secret of this magical equation."
"John Dorman worked on four projects at the property over 20 years...."
"...challenge...to come up with a design that would maximise the possibilities afforded by the house...
"Through clever use of every available inch of space and sensitive planning...family now lives in a house, which is well lit with daylight throughout,...which has almost doubled its...living spaces, but from outside appears to be almost unchanged."
Low Energy
House
Sligo
Build your own House and Home
2010
"We as a family are overjoyed with the house. It is better than we had expected, which is a testament to the dedication of the architect and the contractor in producing such a great home in the time frame we allowed. We wouldn't change anything."
" You could heat the house with a candle, it's so well insulated!"
"...the design team provided a very high level of detail to the the frame builders... to get air tightness right, you have to design it from the first day."
"Two air-tightness tests were carried out by Donal Gilroy of Gilroy Energy. He says the initial result before the service cavity and finishes, was one of the best he had come across. The attention to detail on things like thermal bridging was exceptional.. There were really no areas of weakness."
"Nowhere demonstrates the need for a high performance building envelope quite like a coastal site. Construct Ireland visited a cutting edge timber frame house overlooking Sligo Bay that was designed to achieve a highly insulated, air tight, and low embodied energy envelope whilst making the most of the spectacular vista."
