Interactive floor plan: Grangegorman House, Dublin
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Finished only a few months ago, the House in Grangegorman by Irish practice Odos Architects (opens in new tab), has just been awarded Irish Architecture Award (opens in new tab) for Best House in 2009.
See more images of the award-winning residential project in the traditional Grangegorman area of Dublin (opens in new tab)
'The 2009 RIAI Irish Architecture Awards are the most high profile awards presented in Ireland. Winning the best house award is a considerable achievement for our practice and one both ourselves and our client is very proud of,' say the architects proudly.
The residential project, also known as Metal House, was designed for a motorcycle enthusiast in the Grangegorman area of Dublin and it stands out as the contemporary surprise in an area of traditional infills.
Spread across three levels, a ground floor workshop and a two living floors above, the house’s layout is simple. The façade’s strong surface contrasts – glass alternating with aluminium – also underlines at the same time the building’s structural lines. The first floor hosts the master bedroom and a guest room, while the main living spaces are on the top level, enjoying the best views. On ground floor a courtyard garden extends at the rear of the plot, opening up directly from the workshop space and semi-sheltered by the cantilevered first floor.
Full height large openings allow plenty of sunlight in, while vertical aluminium fins can close to keep the more private parts of the house out of the passer-by’s sight. The large openings and bright sleek metal fins also make the whole structure appear lighter and on occasions – where glazing in front and back coordinate – almost transparent.
'We wanted to create a simple but strong elemental form to bookend a terrace of period terrace houses and at the same time, challenge local preconceptions on how infill housing should be approached,' Odos explain.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Rimowa violin case with Gewa strikes the right note
This new Rimowa violin case created in collaboration with Gewa is made of hard-wearing grooved aluminium
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Nordic Knots opens Stockholm showroom in a former cinema
New Nordic Knots Stockholm showroom makes the most of the dramatic interiors of the early-20th-century Eriksbergsteatern
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published