The architect Frank Hall, who died suddenly aged 62, was associated with many of Dublin's leading architectural practices. In the course of his career he influenced and inspired numerous Irish architects, and made an important contribution to the architectural milieu in which he found himself.
Born in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, he was the sixth of seven children of Patrick J Hall and Margaret Quinn. His father died when he was four. At primary school he quickly proved to be a gifted pupil, with a particular talent for geometry.
The school principal, Hughie O'Connor, gave him great encouragement, driving him around Munster to sit a range of scholarships for entry to secondary school. He secured five and opted to attend Mount St Joseph's Cistercian College, just outside Roscrea; the rigour and calm of monastic culture was to remain a powerful influence.
His passion for architecture was sparked in his teens when he saw a photograph of the Church of Notre Dame du Haut, at Ronchamp, designed by Le Corbusier, in Time magazine. In 1961 he enrolled in the School of Architecture at University College Dublin.
After working with the architect Johnny Butler he moved in 1968 with his wife, Pauline Clarke, and two children to Seville, joining the practice of Jaime Lopez de Asiain.
There he worked on large public projects, most notably the prizewinning Museo Espanol de Arte Contemporaneo in Madrid.
On his return to Dublin, he worked with Boyle and Delaney Architects and Patrick Rooney Architects. Working in independent practice, he designed the Community Centre for Rath Cairn in the Meath Gaeltacht, as well as housing at Mount Tallant Avenue, Heytesbury Lane and St Mary's Lane. With his brother, Michael, he developed Zardoz Court, four town houses on Anglesea Road, which was his first venture as a developer-architect.
In 1978 he joined with Shay Cleary, Yvonne Farrell, Shelley McNamara and Tony Murphy, to found Grafton Architects. This co-operative practice of five partners chose the neutral title, Grafton Architects, to emphasise the role of the individual within the collective.
In 1981 he and Shay Cleary set up in partnership. Their projects included apartments at Chapelizod, award-winning mews houses at Swan Place and the conversion of the two end buildings at Harcourt Terrace, including Sarah Purser's studio.
The work of the Cleary and Hall practice was featured in the 1983 exhibition on Emerging European Practices at the Architectural Association, London.
In 1986, in collaboration with Burke-Kennedy and Doyle Architects, he worked on the rebuilding of the centrepiece of Harcourt Terrace, and apartments on Sarsfield Quay. With Paul Quilligan Architects he designed the swimming pool at Kelly's Hotel, Rosslare, town houses at Pleasants Place, off Camden Street, and at Bessborough Parade, Rathmines, in addition to apartments at Portobello Dock.
He excelled at finding sites and had a great ability to read a site, its potential and its physical capacity. He had a particularly good eye for the possibilities of quirky "impossible" sites. This gift he brought to bear on a very productive development career in collaboration with a group of business associates, including his friend and partner Barry Meagher. The changing economic climate of recent years helped to propel the architectural aesthetic he espoused into mainstream acceptance.
He hugely enjoyed the role of developer-architect, which enabled him to have a strong personal influence on the design of his own family house at Mount Pleasant Avenue, apartments/showrooms at Church Road, Dalkey, apartments at Clanbrassil Street, Fort Ostman, Crumlin, and apartments and houses at Windsor Terrace, Harold's Cross. He worked with a number of architects on these schemes, including Quilligan Architects, de Blacam and Meagher and Grafton Architects.
His immersion in painting, literature and politics was fired by a belief in art and humanity, and he was committed to the integration of the visual arts and architecture. He made beautiful, assured, solid pencil drawings that conveyed a clear sense of measure, precision and materiality.
His boundless enthusiasm for architecture was shared by his daughter, Iseult, who followed him into the profession.
He loved the city, its laneways and alleys no less than its elegant streets and squares, and delighted in days spent in Cork at the edge of the ocean. He is survived by his wife, Pauline, daughters, Geraldine and Iseult, sons, Stephen and Tom, granddaughters, Anna and Clara, and grandson, Luan.
Frank Hall: born January 28th, 1943; died May 24th, 2005