Foley Architects was delighted to win the prestigious ‘Public Choice’ Award for The Lark Concert Hall in Balbriggan at the recent Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) Architecture Awards which took place at the National Gallery of Ireland.
The project is the first public building by Foley Architects, Ireland and CAMPUS, Sweden – two award-winning practices with a long-standing history of collaboration on large scale public projects in Europe and overseas. The design team comprised directors Stephen Foley and Johan Berglund along with Project Architect Marta López and Architects Sara Acebes, and Clara Guixeras.
The Lark Concert Hall took first place in the ‘Public Choice’ category after over 20,000 votes were cast by the general public. The overwhelming support reflects the project’s outstanding contribution to the built environment and its resonance with the community.
“It was amazing,” Stephen Foley says of receiving the coveted award.
“The Lark Concert Hall was a special project. The client brief was ambitious. The Irish Institute of Music and Song wanted a tall, big and outstanding venue which we successfully delivered. The venue has been very well received locally and regularly sells out its 400-seat capacity. It has added a lot to Balbriggan and the wider area.
“We reached out to the local community for their vote and were delighted with the response. All 42 projects selected in this year’s RIAI Awards were also eligible for the public vote, so the competition was intense,” adds the affable Donabate man, whose practice was also shortlisted for Rossaveel Small Craft Harbour in Co. Galway.
In congratulating the winning entry, RIAI president Sean Mahon said: “The level of public engagement this year has been extraordinary and I want to extend a warm congratulations to both the winner and the runners-up. The Lark Concert Hall truly exemplifies the excellence and innovation that the RIAI ‘Public Choice’ Award stands for.
“With a record number of votes cast and a growing level of interest in the ‘Public Choice’ Award, we can see the increasing public recognition of how quality architecture has the power to improve lives and shape the society we envision. Together, we are building a better future, one thoughtfully designed space at a time.”
The RIAI Awards celebrate buildings across all areas of our built environment, from small rural communities to our towns and urban centres. This year’s theme centred on sustainability, focusing on the reuse, repair, adaptation and retrofit of existing buildings as key to addressing climate change.
The Lark Concert Hall is part of the Irish Institute of Music and Song campus and is located next to a three-storey protected Georgian House which provides accommodation for visiting artists and scholars. The new theatre was originally designed for chamber music which gives shape and volume to the space, but also allows for a multitude of performance types, including cinema, pantomime and comedy.
To achieve the necessary reverberation, the roof of the hall was set as high as possible and drops at building edge, responding to the scale of the surrounding streets. The ceiling of the hall is pleated to reflect the sound to the back of the audience and grooved acoustic panelling is used for diffusion. This sets up the leitmotif of the project as pleats are also used to make up the elevation, breaking up the volume which is clad in granite slabs.
Inside the building, the angled façade helps reflect sound around the music classrooms which are located on the west side elevation. These spaces have tall windows bringing light deep into the plan. The second-floor rehearsal space expresses the shape of the roof and has an opening looking back into the hall with acoustic curtains connecting the two spaces.
The lobby and reception area are located on the north elevation which is set back from the street. Windows on this façade are wider and frame views from the vertical circulation. Visitors are brought to a balcony that looks through a two-storey window towards the centre of Balbriggan on the way up to their seat and gives a view towards the sea through a large picture window as they leave the performance.
Stephen graduated as an architect from DIT (now TU Dublin) and has a Masters in Advanced Architecture from the School of Architecture Madrid (ETSAM). He gained experience working on public, cultural, sports and religious buildings in Dublin, London and Barcelona before going into private practice in 2016.
“I wanted to work for myself and to delegate my own time, so when my son Nathaniel was born, I decided to start my own practice,” recalls Stephen, who is married to Ari and also has a three-year-old daughter, Nina.
“My first solo project was a pavilion in Eastbourne in the South of England which was won in an open competition promoted by the Architects Journal. At the time I was teaching in various universities and the work, although small in scale, was ambitious in terms of research and innovation. This was recognised by the RIAI when they awarded us their RIAI Future Award for Emerging Architects in 2017. It gave us the confidence to keep developing the practice and bid for larger work.
“In order to grow, we formed a joint venture called SFA42 with 42 Architects, or CAMPUS as it’s now known. CAMPUS is run by Swedish architect Johan Berglund who I got to know from our time working together for Mangera Yvars Architects in London and Barcelona.
“The partnership gave us capacity to work on large buildings and master plans, and allowed us to collaborate on many exciting projects.”
The work of both practices have been published extensively in high-profile magazines and journals, including Mark, A10, C3, Frame, Arkitektur, Architects Journal and Architecture Ireland, and has been showcased in multiple venues around the world. Johan’s project for a new skateable public space, Hyttgardsparken, was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2016 as part of a selection of the best contemporary Scandinavian architecture.
Whether operating autonomously or in collaboration, the work of Foley Architects is always driven by a critical conceptual design process with an ambition to create functional buildings and spaces that are intimately connected to their physical and social context. The practice thinks big, yet values the small scale and puts great emphasis on invention, craft and simplicity. The practice believes in a collaborative dialogue with the client, consultants, contractors and end users to inform its design proposals, and prides itself on delivering high-quality and imaginative design solutions that surpasses clients’ expectations.
Foley Architects are interested in developing building ideas that are unique to the particular conditions of the project. The relationship between the spatial experience, the built form and the context is fundamental to its work. The practice believes that the architectural decisions cannot be made in isolation and that the architecture should be both familiar and unfamiliar. The team always strives to create spaces that are enjoyable and practical, but with a sense of wonder and delight that go beyond the functional.
It goes without saying that Foley Architect’s greatest asset is its people.
“Our team is passionate and enjoys what they do. The more challenging and interesting the project is, the more they enjoy it,” says Stephen, who is currently working on projects in Rossaveel and Killybegs for the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, and on projects along the Grand Canal in Lucan for South Dublin County Council.
“We work incredibly hard for our clients and always go the extra mile. We listen to stakeholders and identify what’s important. All projects are designed in perspective using 3D modelling. We’re constantly producing images for our clients so they accompany us along the way. We’re flexible and enjoy good working relationships with not only our clients, but also consultants and other architectural firms.”
Stephen Foley Architects Ltd.
The Priory,
Donabate,
Dublin,
K36 HP22.
Telephone: +353 (0)1 843 6937
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, December 2024, Vol 10 No 12
featured, Stephen Foley Architects
