Moyross Community Enterprise Centre consists of two structures connected by a two storey link building, all dating from the early nineteen nineties. Both structures are steel portal frames with block-work infill.

The two storey building houses community support services, offices for staff, adult education, youth outreach services, a restaurant and kitchen as well as and community monitoring. The double height gym is used as a restaurant and its use is limited to this, there is a kitchen and store adjacent. Furthermore there are six pre-fab buildings and containers, which act as overflow offices and changing spaces for community centre staff.  It is difficult to ascertain what space is used in these rooms in terms of sq. metres as these structures are cramped and wholly inadequate.

There is also a branch of Caherdavin Credit Union operating out of the crèche on site.

In May 2012 Drake Hourigan Architects were appointed by Moyross Community Enterprise Centre to design the extension and refurbishment of the centre. The proposed extension is to be new two and three storey extension to the front of the existing building. The design of the new extension aims to present the centre as a modern accessible public building.

The focus of the new centre is an atrium space. The space is to be three storeys high and offer the people of Moyross an accessible public room, which is welcoming and useful. The space will provide on ground floor, a reception, secretarial services, access to the new café, a location for the Moyross Credit Union (relocated from the crèche building to the rear), a lift, public WC’s and an accommodation stairs to first floor. The new extension is also to include 4no. new enterprise units.

Limerick has a very rich medieval heritage which includes the newly refurbished King John’s Castle, St. Mary's Cathedral, Fannings Castle and the Hunt Museum's medieval collections. Inspired by Limericks built and cultural heritage a show garden has been designed for Bloom in the Park 2014. This garden will promote Limerick’s medieval heritage to a wider audience, attracting more cultural visitors to the city centre. 

Gardens in castles, monasteries and manor houses of the middle ages were planted with medicinal herbs, flowers, meadows, fruit trees and bushes as well as plants used for textiles, dyes for tapestries and inks for manuscripts. Features included wattle and wicker fences, arbours and raised beds, turf seats, fountains, ponds and beehives. This type of gardening is very relevant in today’s society, where we are moving towards a natural, productive and more sustainable type of gardening. 

The garden was subsequently rebuilt at City Hall, in the heart of the medieval quarter in Limerick and has become a wonderful resource to our community by becoming a centre for life long learning and education.

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The Visitor Centre in Lough Gur was built around 1979/80. The building is a single storey interpretive centre building. It is in the form of two structures one circular and the other eliptical in plan form, connected by a link building. Both structures are roofed in thatch while the link structure is flat roofed. The building is partially underground and the walls are random rubble stone cladding over retaining walls. The design of the centre was based on neo-lithic house plans evident at the Lough Gur site of Knockadoon. These structures were circular or rectangular in shape and were made from locally available material – stone, turves and reed and located on the southern slope of Knockadoon. The design of the link between the two thatched structures has created a major separation between the main space and reception. The  floor level of the link was raised to reduce this separation. The roof of the link was also raised. The entrance screen was replaced with a copper and glass entrance screen. All the existing back of house in the circular 'tippee' were demolished and the 'tippee' and link structure  now form one space internally joined by a large reception desk. New toilets etc. were accommodated in a oak clad area to the edge of the 'tippe'.

The existing house is a 1970's bungalow, which was built with a two meter level difference between the floor level and the garden. There was also a badly situated garage, adjoining the south gable of the house, blocking light and amenity from the house.

Our brief was to create a bright, usable living space, which could be connected more easily to the garden below. We demolished the garage, opening up the sunniest side of the site. The spilt level extension allowed the spaces to gently flow into each other, the kitchen with steps opening to the dining room, which in turn stepped down to the living area.

The building was reconnected to the rear garden and a new landscaped west facing courtyard space was created to the front, with hedging to ensure privacy from the road.

Natural materials were chosen for their warmth and longevity and include handmade brick, copper, timber and natural slate. Internally the structure is expressed and the ceiling lined with birch ply, with floors of white oak.

The farmhouse in Kilcruig, County Limerick, was built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It is a house that evolved overtime, possibly beginning its life as a single story farmhouse, having an open fireplace with a very large centrally located chimney. The house is recorded as a house with four rooms and three windows to the front facade in the 1901 census, suggesting it was extended after that period. The original layout was modified in the 1970's, leaving the house with a linear arrangement of rooms. The house was built by ancestors of the present owners, who wanted to extend the house to incorporate a bright open plan kitchen/dining room on the ground floor with an additional bedroom en-suite on the first floor. Central to the design was retaining the original features of the house and re-discovering some of the old features, lost over time. The central room, which now accommodates a new oak staircase, is the heart of the home with the old fireplace opened up to accommodate a stove and seating area. French doors were added to the parlour, now used as a sitting room and opens out to the rear where a garden will be developed. The new kitchen/dining area has a large corner window and windows facing east and west, providing a well lit interior.

Airfield is a charitable organisation, established by the Overend family in 1974, for educational and recreational purposes. The farm, gardens, café and heritage experience in the Overend family home, offers visitors a wonderful opportunity to enjoy and learn about food, farming and the natural work in a unique and relaxed urban environment. 

In December 2013, Drake|Hourigan won an open competition to design a playscape for children along the woodland walk at Airfield. Our design concept 'The Wild Wild Way' is a designed landscape for children which incorporates natural play features, sculpted land forms and creative play structures. Central to our vision is to create a place of discovery, legible and exciting for first time visitors, diverse enough to attract families back time and again.

Mona Lodge was built in the early nineteenth century, at a time when Castleconnell was a thriving spa town. The house is a two-storey, five bay, late Georgian farmhouse, and it was built by James McNabb, a Scottish distiller circa 1823.

It was purchased by the Ryan family sometime after 1911, where two generations lived until 1998. Conservation and restoration works began in January 2007. This included masonry consolidation, works to the roof, lime render externally and lime putty internally, new windows to match original six over six sash windows and mechanical & electrical services. The construction was interrupted by a fire in 2007. The original joinery was conserved, as it was off site at the time of the fire.

The 'Wild Wild Way' at Airfield House and Gardens, is a designed landscape for children which incorporates natural play features and structures. The Grey Barn was completed in Spring 2014 and is designed for use by babies and toddlers. The interior of an existing barn was fitted out with play structures and installations themed on a woodland environment. The garden has been designed with a sensory theme and includes two living willow domes, a reading seat under an apple tree and is planted with herbs, flowers and bulbs to create a year round sensory experience for small children.

This project was for the refurbishment of a nineteen eighties 'L' shaped bungalow. Our brief was to extend the house and create bright modern living spaces which connected the house to the garden. Our response was to add a new storey over one part of the 'L' with a new master bedroom, ensuite and hobby room and to create new living and kitchen dining spaces below. The remainder of the house was refurbished and contains bedrooms and a main bathroom.  The ground floor of the two storey section was clad in redbrick with a small extension to the front to allow for a new hall and staircase. Windows are double glazed aluminium with an exceptional u-value. There was a general energry upgrade of the dwelling with insulation to walls, floor (in part) and roof.

St. Munchins Community Centre is housed in a building constructed in the early nineteen nineties during construction of sheltered housing at Killeely Court. Although it is a relatively large building of over 500m sq.

The existing building is detailed very much as a semi-detached house. Also the entrance to the centre is little more than a fire escape door. The purpose of the new extension is to provide an additional multi-purpose room, enterprise units and office accommodation. It is also designed to present the centre as an accessible public building. The design for the new extension is for a tough outer skin, in insulated aluminium cladding, which as the building is approached it is gradually softened, by trees and paving.

The front of the building has a large glass and timber screen. The new entrance is a wholly glazed atrium between the existing building and the new extension. A canopy to direct the visitor in marks the entrance.

Roof and Ceiling Refurbishment & Accessibility Upgrade

The school was constructed in the nineteen seventies and is a single storey structure with  classrooms and corridors arranged around two central courtyards. There are two roof areas one approximately 1.5m higher then the other. The roof covering dated from the mid-nineties according to school records, with numerous leaks, at up to 10 separate locations in the school. The roofing material was nearing the end of its natural life cycle and was not considered fit for purpose. There were also several other significant defects in the detailing of the roof apart from the issues relating to the roofing felt. The falls across the roof were very poor and  created large areas of ponding. The location and number of outlets was reviewed as the existing outlets discharged into rwp’s inside the wall cavities, causing major leaks. We redesigned the outlets to discharge through the copings and on the wall faces.

Accessibility Upgrade

The school was also upgraded to provide new accessible WC and changing room facilities. The existing entrance was redesigned to allow access for all users and a soft play area was designed to facilitate children with disabilities.

The school was also upgraded to provide new accessible WC and changing room facilities. The existing entrance was redesigned to allow access for all users and a soft play area was designed to facilitate children with disabilities.

The existing dwelling located in Co. Limerick is a 1970’s bungalow. The existing plan contains a series of small rooms opening off a double loaded corridor. The brief was to re-organise the living spaces into larger simpler units which could be connected to the garden. A full energy upgrade of the house was also provided, including new roof insulation, new insulated floors with underfloor heating and a new external insulation of the existing bungalow.

One of the major changes we proposed was to lower the internal floor level of the rear half of the house, in order to connect it better with the garden. The  extension is clad in larch vertical boards which contrast the off white coloured render of the newly externally insulated bungalow, and large glazed opening screens.

Also key to the interior design was the introduction of a large hall, double height, top lit with a new oak stairs. This created a transition space between the street, the open plan kitchen/ dining/ living spaces which opened onto the garden.

The existing house is a 1980’s bungalow, situated on an elevated site with stunning south-facing views of the Clare hills. The family required additional bedroom accommodation, a sunroom and office space. The proposed design converts the existing kitchen into a bedroom.

A multilevel, semi- open plan, living space is created, by adding a dining room, kitchen and a sun area to the south west of the dwelling. On entering the house, one moves
through the book-lined library, stepping down to the dining room with its large picture window, which frames the view. The circulation flows down through the kitchen and out through the sunroom to the garden. The existing living room joins this space, but can be closed off by double doors.

The aim of the project was to create an informal family home, which could enjoy all the benefits of the situation, while basking in day-long sunlight.

Curraghbridge House is located outside the village of Adare in county Limerick.. The landscape is planted with mature trees. To the south of the house is a large walled garden. The garden has been removed but the stone and brick garden walls are intact. 

In general the house is in exceptionally good condition for a building of its age. Therefore it is the intention to alter the external and internal appearance of the builidng as little as possible. The roof structure and coverings are to be retained including the internal lime parging to the underside of the slates. Works at roof level are limited to renewal of rainwater goods, pointing and haunching to the chimney and replacement of any flashings deemed necessary. 

The existing return building and rear external access stairs are both later and unsightly additions to the rear of the buildng. The design of the new return building is based on rationalising the access into the building at the rear, both from the garden to ground floor and from the garden to basement. We have also taken the opportunity  to provide for a sunroom on first floor of the return, with windows to the east south and west and with views into the walled garden. This will allow the garden to be enjoyed from a new living space inside the house.

The works at Curraghbridge are ongoing. In the past couple of years conservation works have been carried out to a single storey farm building to the rear. Also the original sliding sash windows have all been conserved on the front facade. 

The original brief for this project was to provide disabled access only in the Limerick City Gallery of Art.

During early project discussion, it was suggested by the architects that a more fundamental landscape strategy was required in order to present the gallery as a public building. It was agreed to remove all on street parking and unsightly street furniture (bins, signage, bollards) from in front of the gallery.

The new urban space includes a new granite and limestone footpath, new street lighting, new spotlighting for the main entrance door and new limestone disabled access ramp. The removal of the car parking allowed the width of the footpath in font of the gallery to e doubled to create a new public space.

The ramp itself is divided into two sections to disguise its length. One section is inserted into the depth of the entrance wall the other is inserted into a new entrance plinth. The overall footpath level was raised slightly to further minimise the impact of the ramp.

Widdess Fitzgibbon Pharmacy is one of the oldest businesses in Limerick City and has been under the same family management since 1904. The project brief was to restore the existing premises on Roches St. Limerick. The pharmacy was remodelled in the nineteen sixties with a utilitarian type tiled shopfront and signage. The owners of the pharmacy are very proud of the heritage of the business and wanted the new project to reflect a sense of continuity with the past rather than a wholly new looking design. The final design uses modern and traditional materials in a Shopfront that plays on the traditional bay window type. The project also provided for a complete re-fit internally for dispensary and storage spaces housed in a new three storey return building to the rear.

The gallery is housed in a new basement level building, which is built in front of the Hunt Museum.

The Hunt Museum itself is housed in the former Customs House Building. The Customs House was completed in 1769 to design by Davis Ducart, an Italian architect, at a cost of £8,000. 

The roof in question is a trafficable roof to a basement gallery. Entrance to the Hunt Museum is via a new entrance building on ground floor adjacent to the Custom’s House building. This entrance is accessed by walking over the roof of the gallery building. Water ingress into the gallery building had occurred in different locations.

The project consisted of detailed analysis of the causes of the failure of the roof and a new solution for roof drainage, as well as a complete re-surfacing of the courtyard.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick

This garden is sited within a carpark at the rear of the existing community centre. As there are no pleasing vistas externally, the views are essentially created within the garden itself. A beech hedge surrounds the garden on four fours sides and forms a backdrop to the planting inside. The garden is designed to provide opportunities for both socialising and contemplation. The main seating area is centered around a reflective pond. A rowan tree provides dappled shade and seasonal interest. A line of himalayan birch creates a sense of privacy while providing limited visual access to those entering the garden. An alcove, created by a trellised arch, is sited in the fragrant garden, which supports plants including scented roses, honeysuckle and star jasmine. Wide pathways of smooth non-slip paving, allow strolling two-abreast and comfortable wheelchair access. Raised beds bring tactile plants within easy reach. Sensory stimulation is provided by the colour, smell, taste and texture of plants, the movement of grasses, trees and water, the sounds of birds, water, leaves and of course the visitors themselves, who along with friends and family can enjoy the space as pleases them.

The children’s garden is designed to promote outdoor play that has a connection to nature. The natural planting promotes sensory stimulation and encourages imaginative play, where sensory treasure hunts can take place among the trees, meadow and wild flowers. The living quality of nature is seen in wildlife in the garden, the birds, butterflies and insects. A potager encourages children to learn how to grow vegetables and flowers.

Forest Holiday Village is a cluster of holiday homes set in woodland beside the village of Ballyorgan in the Ballyhoura mountains on the Limerick Cork border. The village is made up of 10no. units dating from the early nineteen nineties. 7no. of these are to be upgraded as part of this project. While the dwellings have weathered well externally since construction over twenty years previously they have shown their age in other ways. Thermally the performance of the block-work and timber clad walls has been very poor. Equally the roof insulation was totally inadequate. Internally, the heating systems were poor and hard to control and the kitchens and bathrooms had dated badly.

The project included a complete energy upgrade as well as new internal finishes bathrooms and kitchens.

The buildings are detached dwellings and there are two different roof forms an A pitched roof and a mono-pitched roof. The project was completed in early 2013.

The retaining walls are play elements in themselves, a stage, a jump, a seat for story time, a climbing wall, a place for discovery…bubbles, bumps, reflections. Play bridges at intervals provide opportunities for imaginative play, a thing you balance on, a bridge to the castle, a bench, a train, a dragon. The essence of this scheme is the provision of non- perscriptive play opportunities, in a fun and beautiful environment for both children and adults. Seating is provided throughout, so adults can relax while the kids run amuck. The grasses start their cycle of growth in spring with low mounds of green foliage, which quickly grow in height and flower in late summer, turning to oranges and rusts in autumn and holding shape and colour through winter. With paths cut through them for children, imagined adventures can take place, hide and seek, chasing, exploring.

​The garden design is inspired by the design of an Edwardian town garden by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll. The plan is for a formally set out lawn outlined in brick kerbing, which contrasts starkly with lush monochrome planting. This kind of planting scheme is typical of the Edwardian period during which Shannon Terrace was constructed.

 The designed landscape on the River Shannon, Castleconnell, c.1750-1840 (MA Dissertation)

The subject of this study is the designed landscapes on the River Shannon at Castleconnell, c.1750-1840, which have been considered in the context of eighteenth century landscape design and picturesque theory. The Shannon, close to Castleconnell, possessed many of the characteristics of the ‘picturesque’; ancient ruins and antiquities, woods, mountains, spa waters and the river, which, with its rapids and falls, was the quintessential representation of Burkean sublime. In the eighteenth century, landscape theory moved from the emblematic, based on historical and literary references, to the expressive, which appealed to the senses rather than the mind. Research definitively shows that the designed landscape at Castleconnell was a landscape of the senses. This dissertation examined how the romantic landscape was incorporated into the designed landscapes and why the landed gentry were inspired to do so. Themes include, the visual communication between demesnes and villas, the picturesque parkland, the woodland retreat and communal or shared landscapes.

The existing dwelling at Toureen, Ballysimon, is a 19th century single storey, stone, farmhouse. The building was renovated before it was purchased by its current owners.

The difficulty with the existing plan lies in the absence of any real connection to the garden, the small sash windows, traditional to a farmhouse dwelling, do not provide the existing living spaces with enough light and the bedrooms, accessed directly from the living area, compromise any sense of privacy.The proposed extension effectively reorganises the workings of this home. A new kitchen/dining and living room is being added to the east end of the house, set back from the front façade to form a brick walled courtyard to the south and east of the extension. This will provide a sunny yet private outdoor space linking directly to the living area of the house and through to the garden behind. A new entrance hall links the extension, through a study in the existing house, to the bedrooms and bathrooms, the private part of the house.We are proposing to use a pale yellow handmade brick on the new extension, which will tie in tonally with the grey blues and yellow of the existing stone wall, with granite coping and large glazed opening screens.

This 19th century two roomed railway cottage opens directly onto the platform at Knocklong train station, no longer in use. The cottage is in a poor state of repair, comprising of two main rooms, bathroom and outbuildings, which attach in a courtyard form to the south. It is proposed to extend the house within the existing courtyard walls, away from the view of passing trains. The extension will contain a new bathroom, study and kitchen/dining room, which will connect with the living room in the existing house. The new extension will open to a large garden to the east and a private courtyard space to the west. The extension is designed to appear as a lightweight steel and glass structure nestling into the old stone walls of the courtyard. The roof profile is lower that and subordinate to the roof of the existing building. The new extension employs a simple curved metal roof, a typical roof profile visible in the Irish countryside. The extension id designed to create a clear definition between old and new that is also sympathetic and respectful to the existing building.