A FORMER pupil of Rainey Endowed School has won a major architectural award with her contemporary design.
Jane Burnside, principal of Jane D Burnside Architects, has been Highly Commended for her Origami House in Kells, by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).
The former Magherafelt woman is a well-respected architect of contemporar
y houses in the Province - and this is the only house in Northern Ireland (pictured) to achieve this award.
The RIAI received over 200 entries, with the private house category attracting by far the largest number of entrants from projects worldwide.
The Origami House was shortlisted for an RIBA Award, but as the RIAI Awards are a step up again, to achieve Highly Commended is special recognition of the work Jane is doing.
She said in competitions like this the judges are looking for someone who is doing something fresh and creative.
“The Origami House is the third in a series of pavilion type houses that have been designed to address the specific planning constraint of ridge height (the first was a pavilion house that stepped up a small drumlin in Co Down, and the second was a house the steps down the hillside in the middle of the seaside village of Whitehead).
“In this pavilion series, we have created a unique response to the strict planning requirement of ‘simple rural form’ and single storey ridge height,” she explained.
“These particular houses are composed of a series of interlocking pavilions, each having the dimensions of a typical rural cottage. Using a delicate steel frame concealed within the ceiling depth and window framing, we have configured a way of interlocking these highly insulated roofs together to span large, and sometimes complex, open plan spaces for contemporary living.
“Carefully positioned corner windows of thermal glass are positioned to capture the drama of expansive views from broad terraces, contrasting with heavy insulated walls and monolithic cut out windows that frame the specific views whilst creating intimacy and privacy. “
The Best House category was won by an end-of-terrace Dublin dwelling by the city practice ODUS.
Jane has been at the forefront of the re-drafting of the Rural Planning Policy PPS21 and is a long standing campaigner for better design in the countryside.
“I am a firm believer that it is not where you build, but what you build that makes a difference to the built heritage in our rural landscape.
“I am also of the view that we can live in a contemporary way, in a contemporary house without denying our traditional roots.
“The Origami House with its slate roofs and white rendered walls achieves all that in an innovative response to its landscape setting,” she said.
