Eoin Lyons visits a Regency villa with a modern twist - and a new heart.
A family who live by the sea in south Co Dublin asked the architect Sam Mays to reimagine their small kitchen and extend it to become a room that they could also use as a living space. Mays and his wife, Eileen, have a wide-ranging practice: Fitzpatrick & Mays Architects (01-4539643) has recently been involved in social housing and the design of a bridge in Paris, as well as residential architecture at home. The owner of the Co Dublin home chose them to design her extension after seeing their work on a house in Belfast. It's a reminder of a key principal: always see architects' work before you hire them. elyons@indigo.ie
KITCHEN: "We wanted a sociable space where I could cook but see how the homework is going, or talk to friends in the evening, rather than have the kitchen isolated from the rest of the house," says the owner of the home, which is a Regency villa whose rooms open off a central hall, in the traditional way, with a kitchen at the rear. The new extension, which covers most of the garden, has courtyards on either side, accessible through sliding glass doors set in iroko frames. "In summer, when both doors are open, it's a much bigger space," says Mays. Next to the sliding doors are wooden panels that open like old-fashioned half doors.
The table running down the centre of the room - echoing the layout of the house - leads to the island and units, with a scullery beyond. The white gloss units were fitted by Kitchen Flair, in Sandymount (01-2695370, www.kitchenflair.ie). "You don't need to spend huge amounts of money on a kitchen," says the owner. "This was relatively inexpensive. Half of the cost of the whole thing was the stainless-steel top for the island, because it's made in one piece."
The lighting, which was installed by Rocky Wall of Wink Lighting (01-2836700, www.wink.ie), consists of wall lights, spotlights and, above the table, hanging lights. Switching on different combinations brings different atmospheres to the room - for a dinner party, for example, the kitchen can be dimmed and the table left bright.
"What's great about Rocky is that he's not just trying to sell fittings but thinking about how you use the room and how to create atmosphere," says the owner. "We use every bit of the house, but the kitchen is where everything happens. Friends come straight down here. I wouldn't have been able to visualise it without the help of Sam and our builder, Pat Keane [ of Pat Keane Construction, ajkeane@iol.ie]. He finished on time and on budget and, hand on heart, was fantastic from beginning to end.
"My advice to anyone who wants to do a job like this is to bite the bullet and do everything at the one time, if possible. A lot more is spent doing little messy bits now and again rather than everything from the beginning."
BEDROOM: The rest of the house is traditional but with a play between old and new. The main bedroom, also designed by Mays, has a sleeping platform for the bed to sit on, in order to allow extra height in the kitchen below. The bathroom has a heated mirror, so it doesn't fog up. The mirror is also fitted with a light that shines where you need it: directly on your face.
LIVINGROOM: This is decorated in pale blues and white. The sofas have slip covers, for easy washing, and, instead of a fussy curtain, the window has a gauze blind.