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Inspiration

Renovation station: Shutters back on a warm extension for a protected house

Each week, we focus on a makeover of an Irish home into a wonderful living space.

LIVING IN A gorgeous Georgian house is a bit of a dream to many of us – but it can also come with its own challenges when it comes to extension or renovation.

For one thing, such structures are often protected and any changes heavily legislated – but it can also be a feat to have a new extension sit well with such historical grandeur.

RWKA.com RWKA.com

Architect Ryan Kennihan of RWKA explains that he took the original house layout – a protected structure that comprised a centre hall, double-fronted building and two rectilinear rooms at upper ground floor level – as a starting point.

And so this extension’s deep facade is constructed from similar bricks to those used in the original building. There is a symmetry that mirrors that of the rear wall of the house and plays up the central stair window.

Ryan W Kennihan Architects Ryan W Kennihan Architects

But have you spotted the innovative ‘curtain’ solution to the right of the extension on the ground floor?

Look again, this time with the shutters closed across:

Ryan W Kennihan Architects Ryan W Kennihan Architects

The homeowners asked for a timber screen for the winter months. The delicate patterned shutters slide between the outer and inner columns as needed:

Alice Clancy Alice Clancy

The shutters and a bespoke table reflect the Douglas Fir ceiling inside – the ceiling joists are tightly spaced “to allow for an extremely slender structural build up”:

RWKA.com RWKA.com

RWKA.com RWKA.com

There is white-stained birch veneer, white terrazzo floors and counters:

RWKA.com RWKA.com

  • To see more work from Ryan W Kennihan Architects, click here>
  • Architectural photographer Alice Clancy’s work can be seen here>

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