St Clare's Mews

This residential development in the South City, Dublin sought to transform a disused storage yard into a high-quality contemporary housing scheme. The site had been the subject of several previous proposals for apartment development; however, this design explored an alternative approach, creating a series of individual mews houses that respond more closely to the scale and character of the surrounding residential area.

​

The constrained depth of the urban infill site presented a significant architectural challenge, with the design required to accommodate new homes alongside private open space and car parking. The close proximity of neighbouring properties also limited opportunities for extensive glazing, requiring careful consideration of overlooking, privacy and residential amenity.

​

The architectural solution was to introduce a series of self-contained private open spaces arranged across two levels, with parking efficiently incorporated beneath the development. This approach allowed the houses to be designed as slender three-storey volumes, punctuated by a series of vertical gardens and landscaped voids.

​

These planted spaces provide natural light, views and private outdoor amenity while maintaining privacy between the new homes and neighbouring properties. As the landscaping matures, the vertical gardens will create distinctive pockets of vegetation throughout the development, softening the architecture and bringing a changing, living quality to the new residential streetscape.

​

The proposal demonstrates how a constrained brownfield and infill site can be successfully repurposed for contemporary urban housing. By carefully balancing density, privacy, parking, landscaping and private open space, the design maximises the potential of a challenging Dublin site while creating high-quality, individual homes with a strong connection to nature.