Donegal architects win prestigious national award for Cruit Island project
Rathmullan-based architects Pasparakis Friel believe that Cruit Island house is in many ways a celebration of Donegal - its beautiful landscape, its culturally attuned people, and its built heritage
Rathmullan-based architects Pasparakis Friel have received a prestigious award from the Architectural Association of Ireland for a new house on Cruit Island.
The project is one of only five projects in the country to receive an award.
The project was realised as a result of enlightened clients, a supportive planning department in Donegal County Council, and a professional contractor in AXIS Construction of Dungloe.
On the opposite side of the house, a low, long, linear outcrop funnels one towards the entrance, the beach and the bay beyond. The space between the house and the rock has a certain intimacy in which new ‘external rooms’ are created.
Alongside their residential work, Pasparakis Friel has been the author of a variety of urban regeneration plans for towns and villages across Donegal. They have recently completed the first phase of an exciting renovation and extension of Drumhalla House Wedding Venue in Rathmullan. Those works have involved innovative glulam timber construction. Much like their Cruit Island house, the concept design at Drumhalla House is inspired by the local coastal landscape it overlooks.
The AAI Awards seek to recognise the best of Irish architecture produced during a single calendar year, whilst providing a forum for the critique of contemporary work. Entries are judged by a panel of five assessors: an architectural critic, a foreign architect, two Irish architects, and a distinguished non-architect.