AAI Site Visit: Egremont, Church Road, Killiney

Egremont is a low-rise, medium-density, PassiveHaus scheme comprising 47 PassivHaus units at Church Road, Killiney for Durkan Residential. The scheme has a mix of apartments and houses in a range of sizes – 3 beds and 2 beds with duplexes maximising views to the mountains – with varied garden spaces – public, private and play – giving a sense of community and ownership to the occupants.

Sustainability is at the heart of the scheme, with “fingers” of accommodation and green roofs running through the site among existing trees, allowing the landscape to dominate and views to the Wicklow mountains from all parts of the project and from balconies.

This transfers through the internal planning of the houses, providing interesting rooms with good views, dual aspect living areas and cross-ventilation. All of the houses have flexible options for uses and are designed for whole life living.

A clay brick is used throughout to unify facades, creating a strong material aesthetic. Natural and sustainable materials and strategies have been employed holistically for the entire site with stone and timber re-used to form the landscape and play piecesAbout the Architects:

McCullough Mulvin Architects is a Dublin-based practice working internationally and in Ireland. Our projects express a deeply held belief that one of the purposes of architecture is to explore place and time in context, whether that context is a city, a site, or an existing building. Our understanding of and respect for history is evident in a portfolio of work which balances the materiality of fine old fabric against appropriate contemporary interventions.

Valerie Mulvin and Niall McCullough founded McCullough Mulvin Architects in 1986, joined by fellow directors Ruth Herlihy in 2006, and Corán O’Connor in 2017. Tragically, Niall McCullough died in August 2021 after a short illness. We are now working to honour all of the core principles founded early in the practice continuing the established ethos in work across many sectors, with a particular focus on place-making, context and innovative conservation.

Recent award-winning work includes Printing House Square (RIAI Learning Environment Award 2023), Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, Ireland (nominated EU Mies van der Rohe Award 2022), Thapar University Learning Laboratory in Patiala, India (Winner of DETAIL Reader’s Prize 2020) and Medieval Mile Museum in Kilkenny, Ireland (nominated EU Mies van der Rohe Award 2019). We are currently working on various projects including a new music centre in Bantry for West Cork Music, student accommodation for University College Cork, the Grangegorman Residential Care Centre, along with schools and housing projects.