Located in the heart of Dublin, Ireland, the Flynn Mews House celebrates and seamlessly integrates its historic urban fabric. Built on ground previously occupied by an 1847 coach house, the design for this residence highlights and reframes the site through an unabashedly contemporary gesture that honors history while adding to it a distinctly new strain.
This home engages with the historic core of Dublin in a uniquely intimate way. With its main entrance by way of a small mews, the site’s historic coach house façade has been restored and incorporated so that an unobstructed view from its original manor remains unspoiled.
The house comprises two volumes that flank an interior sunken courtyard, creating a dynamic sequencing of exterior and interior spaces that is highly atypical in urban Dublin. A contemporary glass bridge is suspended across the central void.
This staggering of two masses best resolves the challenge of highlighting the preserved wall. Overlooking the interstitial courtyard, the historic façade is reflected across the contemporary glazed forms that surround it.
As part of the Dublin Green Building Pilot Program, the Flynn Mews House utilizes a significant amount of sustainable measures achieved through a holistic design approach: recycled and high performance materials, solar panels for domestic water heating, and radiant floors heated by an underground pump system that incorporates gray water.