Esker House

The site is situated in a rural setting to the north east of Summerhill in the townland of Collegeland. A mature landscape of indigenous trees and hedgerows surround the site. The site is bounded by an esker to the north and east of the site. The dwelling is located in the cradle of the site, nestling between the esker and the trees. The house integrates entrance forecourts, courtyards and walled gardens into the design. The idea of creating different courtyards is to create a sense of enclosure that will provide a certain degree of privacy while at the same time create thresholds between the public and private parts of the site. The house is single storey in scale and consists of 3 pitched wings with simple spans, which are laid out to respond to the specific conditions present on site, in particular the views to the fields, the trees, the esker and the solar orientation. The arrangement of the wings on the plan create a series of a courtyards which are appropriate to the landscape and context. The deliberate shape and positioning of the different wings and walls creates a series of interesting external spaces around the dwelling including an entrance forecourt, a walled garden to the west, a rear garden and a family courtyard to the east/south. All materials are traditional, including; timber, concrete, plaster and slate/metal roofing. Walls are predominantly timber with a dark stain to reflect the landscape in which the dwelling sits and respects the character of the site. The roofs are crafted from metal and natural slates. Eaves details are clipped and minimal. The extensive use of timber cladding helps to integrate the dwelling into its woodland setting.