Sean Treacy House

Sean Treacy House was commissioned by Dublin City Council to replace a number of derelict 1960s flat blocks with a mixed tenure social housing development comprising apartments, houses and own door duplexes. This project redefines the neglected streetscape and creates a new shared and secure garden for the residents and their children. The design has prioritised urban form and residential amenity in equal measures, reinstating the 18th century streetscape with the semi-public courtyard contributes to the creation of a high level of amenity for the inner-city community. The design exploits the sloping site; a whole floor level change from north to south allows the car park to be entered at grade from the street below the courtyard with planted light wells providing daylight and passive surveillance to the car park below.

The massing, heights, materials and architectural treatment make a site specific response to urban context; the brick elevations of the sixstorey apartment block reflect the existing Georgian scale of Buckingham Street and the lower duplexes replicate the domestic scale of Empress Place. The courtyard creates a white painted 'interior' for residents to meet and children to play safely. The community building is placed informally in the centre of the courtyard to emphasise its shared ownership by the residents.

The State-funded scheme comprises 53no. dwellings with 201 bed spaces and has a density of 133 units per hectare or 54 per acre. The north-south orientated courtyard creates a micro-climate which optimises wind shelter, sunlight penetration and passive solar gain. State of the art technologies lower energy use and carbon emissions; they include solar panels, self condensing gas boilers and a highly insulated and airtight building fabric providing A/B energy ratings. The project measures 5,220 sq.m, design commenced in 2001 and construction works were completed in May 201