Location – Kiltimagh, County Mayo, Ireland
Status – Completed 2020
Value – €2.5m

This project required two compatible but distinct parts – A large multi-purpose room and seven new classrooms as an extension to a protected structure, on a very restricted and sloping site.

We used the slope of the site to our advantage and placed the large volume multi-purpose room on the lower level, with its own independent access (for after-school use), which absorbed the site’s slope. We placed the general classrooms on top and used an existing covered walkway as the students circulation route.

The distinct uses are expressed externally with a shifting of the two volumetric spaces and a contrast in materiality. Colour is light and light is energy. Coloured glass is used as a sensory experience as the sun dramatizes the spaces as it moves around the building during school hours. Different tone choices in learning spaces and moving spaces enhance the objectives of pupils behaviour.