Maghera House, Dundrum

Located just outside Newcastle in County Down, House at Maghera is a large residence for a family of five. Their brief was for a bright and spacious home that wouldn't feel out of place in its rural village setting. To achieve this, architects Kieran McGonigle and Aidan McGrath designed a house comprising two wings, each with gabled profiles. The ends of these blocks face the road, just like other buildings in the village. Two pitched roof elements complete the assembly generated by an adjoining building, which is organised as a series of gables addressing the road, and continuing the story of the built form arrangements in the village. The gables step in plan to accentuate the movement and change of direction of the road, and to reveal glimpses of the landscape beyond. The linking element is casual in its form, reflecting the local nature of sporadic and efficient rural construction techniques. The resultant roof pitch of the linking element imposes itself on the smaller element, creating asymmetry and therefore casualness in its gabled form and developing the idea of the roof as a folding plane. Gables are intentionally solid and without first floor openings, suggesting the local masonry barns and respecting the character of the setting of the village from the south. .