A house extension in Osborne Park has been awarded a 2012 RIBA Award by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in recognition of its architectural excellence. The house, which is just off the Malone Road, was designed by winning architect, Ciaran Mackel of ARD Architects. He expressed his delight to have won.
“We are obviously very pleased to have won the award and the fact that we were nominated by our peers is a good feeling.
“I had started my practice back in May 2008 and it was a tough time to operate as you can imagine. The winning house in South Belfast was a welcome project. I was working with a committed client and a committed contractor and things always run much more smoothly under those conditions.”
On the announcement of the awards on June 21,RIBA President Angela Brady commended the quality of the winning houses, in difficult economic times.
“For nearly fifty years the RIBA Awards have reflected the changing state of British architecture and revealed emerging design trends. What really stands out is that even in times of austerity, we can still deliver amazingly clever, high quality buildings that reflect the needs of today and enhance our daily lives.”
“The woman who owned the house was very pleased with the end result. There has also actually been a man who lives in the area who has asked for some work to be done in a similar contemporary style. “
Ciaran revealed that as the house was situated in a conservation area, there were some difficult planning hurdles to overcome, but the most important thing was making sure that the client was happy.
“The woman who owned the house was very pleased with the end result. There has also actually been a man who lives in the area who has asked for some work to be done in a similar contemporary style. “
The Osborne Road house was one of four winners in Northern Ireland. An Antrim house, a public records office and South Belfast’s Lyric Theatre were the other buildings to be awarded a RIBA.
Ciaran is grateful to RIBA for raising the profile of ARD Architects.
“It is nice to get the attention and, as an architect, I was just happy to be nominated. It will help build our reputation and I am thankful that RIBA has acknowledged my work in this way.”
