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Architects Directory 2009

 

Tierney Haynes

Ireland

BIOGRAPHY AND PRACTICE

Stephen Tierney and Nicola Haines, both in their mid 1930s, met at London's Bartlett School of Architecture in 1998. Following a spell working for architects like Ian Ritchie and James Gorst (Tierney) and Norman Foster and Allies and Morrison (Haines), the duo set up their own studio in France in 2004. Now based in Blackrock, Ireland, TIerney Haines combine practice with teaching and study (Haines is studying horticulture). The couple have three children.

'We try to make the most of a building's site and aspect through a careful analysis of local landscape and history,' say the architects, explaining how each brief is treated as a 'creative discussion with a client.' Simple solutions are sought wherever possible, along with natural materials that weather gracefully. Mindful of Ireland's lamentable modern rural housing, Tierney Haines are dedicated to both sustainable design and sympathetic landscaping. 'We take inspiration from the constant debate of ideas in teaching,' they say, gaining inspiration from yacht design as well as the work of Patricia Urquiola, David Chipperfield, the Eameses, Saarinen, Alan Fletcher and Eduardo Souto de Moura.

THE HOUSE

South House is a compact house designed for a small urban plot. Timber-framed, the house is oriented to the south. Two solid walls are paired with a transparent cascade of various materials; photovoltaic glass, solar heating and clear glazing. The balconied interior helps create a stack effect for natural variation, while a variable floorplan is based around the desire to have an open ground floor and increasing levels of privacy on the upper levels.

THE FUTURE

Upcoming works includes Millhanger Cottage, a new-build modern house in Surrey, a new cottage in Tipperary, Ireland, and an extension and new house in Co.Mayo. Public commissions are also in the works.

www.tierneyhaines.com