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Tigh na Faille
Ballymore West, Co. Kerry

November 2026
In Planning

On a narrow threshold between land and sea, Tigh na Faille draws upon the history of a small nineteenth-century dwelling, now much altered, that once formed part of a traditional clachan settlement. The design takes its cues from the local vernacular, bringing together narrow proportions, pitched roofs and simple building forms to create shelter within an exposed landscape.

Two gables converge to the north before splaying apart towards the Atlantic, where three distinct roof forms frame views across the horizon, from the Iveragh Peninsula to Skellig Michael. Between the principal gables, a third roof folds over the stair, landing and sheltered terrace, pivoting around a single polished precast concrete column. Cast with sand from the beach below and aggregates gathered from the site, the column takes on a subtle pinkish-red hue, echoing the ancient sandstone and revealing something of the land from which it is made. Below, an open, cloister-like arcade defines the entrance sequence, providing a sheltered passage beneath the elevated living spaces. Set back from the cliff edge, the house follows the falling terrain, opening towards the sea while gathering around protected spaces within.

Natural slate roofs sit above white rendered volumes, recalling the limewashed dwellings of the local vernacular. Beneath them, a substantial base of weathered fieldstone anchors the house to the sloping ground. Stone salvaged from the original dwelling will be incorporated into the lower walls, its reddish-purple tones connecting the new architecture to the geology and building traditions of the place.

Filed under:
Homeplace
An Tonn
Caheratrant, Co. Kerry

Planning Granted 2026
In Construction

A 1990s beachfront bungalow is reworked through the addition of a single-storey addition, configured as a pair of interlocking mono-pitched volumes. The roofscape comprises two shallow, curving zinc-clad forms, their shell-like convex geometry catching the shifting coastal light and introducing a subtle sense of movement. The removal of an incongruous hexagonal conservatory rationalises the plan, redefines the building edge, and establishes a clearer datum in relation to the horizon.

A limestone plinth, profiled and detailed to register as a continuous stereotomic base, is integral to the composition: the stone darkens under moisture, acquiring a surface sheen, and will weather progressively, reinforcing the building’s relationship to site. The resulting tectonic hierarchy: base, rendered wall, and metal roof articulates a language rooted in permanence and endurance.

Internally, a new principal living space rises westwards towards the mountains and the setting sun, its ceiling plane lifting to draw the eye outward, framing sea, sky, and land as integral elements of the everyday interior experience rather than a distant backdrop.
An Leabharlann
Caherbullig, Co. Kerry

Planning Granted 2025
In Construction

Drawing formal and material inspiration from the single-barrel-vaulted hay barns once commonplace in Kerry’s rural landscape, a new vaulted library is woven into the evolving fabric of a clachan on the slopes of Sliabh an Iolair, overlooking Ceann Trá.

These modest agricultural structures typically roofed in corrugated steel and sited beside farmhouses were once integral to everyday rural life. Though now largely absent from the land, their typology persists in the collective memory of the countryside. This side extension reinterprets the elemental form, reasserting its presence through a contemporary architectural language on a site where hay was once gathered into a coca féir.

A new sequence of naturally lit enfilades establishes layered sightlines from the house, through the library, and outward to the surrounding fields, linking Sliabh an Iolair, to the west with the Iveragh Peninsula to the east. The barrel-vaulted ceiling draws the eye upward, imbuing the interior with a calm, reverential atmosphere.

The material palette is deliberately restrained and tactile. Bespoke book shelves and plan chests, crafted from fallen oak, line the interior. A generous window seat, oriented toward sun, land, and sea, anchors the space as a place of introspection: a quiet observatory for the shifting rhythms of light and landscape.
An Tigin
Castlegregory, Co. Kerry

Planning Granted 2025
In Construction

A 1970s  bungalow, nestled in a woodland by the sea on the Dingle Peninsula, will be transformed into a contemporary family home after lying dormant for over twenty years.

Kissing gables will define an entrance arcade, enhancing the sense of arrival from the north-east, while to the rear a south-facing courtyard will maximise solar gain, encourage passive ventilation, and improve outdoor amenity. The inward-facing typology defined by asymmetric gables will reflect the spatial composition and form typical of vernacular farm clusters, shaped by the need for collective shelter from prevailing Atlantic winds and a strong sense of enclosure.

To reduce demolition and construction waste, the original wet-dash rendered walls will be retained and repaired, preserving the understated, utilitarian character of the existing structure. A series of vaulted spaces will then be carefully grafted-on, with the junction between old and new celebrated through a change in surface texture. This horizontal datum—the moment where old and new are fused—will act as a chalk line, defining where openings will sit, rooflines will terminate, and gutters will extend, visually stitching the composition together while highlighting the dialogue between the original and the proposed.


Filed under:
Bungalow, Renovation, Extension
North Hill
London Borough of Haringey

Planning Granted 2020
Completed 2023

A two-storey rear extension creates a living room, a study and a master-suite overlooking the house’s long garden. The proposal aims to complement the defining characteristic of Walter Segal’s prefabricated, modular, timber-framed vernacular, and adopts his principles of efficient, lightweight, sustainable construction. Whilst celebrating a sensitive new layer of contemporary architecture to the iconic home.

The composition of the rear extension is derived from thorough analysis of the logic and layout of the original garden and house. The sequence of volumes is stacked and slipped both vertically and horizontally, graduating away from the main house, in order to preserve the reading of Segal’s original architecture; whilst at the same time crea
ting a new, and legible whole. The internal composition continues Segal’s original zig-zag route through the main house that reveals glimpses of each on-coming room as you walk through the interior.

The use of minimal repeated elements in the design is a key concept for the construction of the extension; from the structural components and interior lining, to the modulation of the cladding and envelope. To accommodate restricted site access, we developed a component-based construction system, whereby small elements can be brought in and assembled on site.

Externally, a timber veil of uniformly spaced timber battens that envelop the extension visually and structurally links with the timber palisades used in the original house to divide large windows. A textured concrete ribbon with high recycled content wraps the base of the extension to provide a plinth to the extension and protection between the timber structure and the ground.

Internally, a timber staircase and timber internal finishes offer a smooth, warm touch and a sense of security and comfort.

Project Collaborations:

From 2017 to 2023 Luke Matone worked as a project architect for Morris+Company Architects, leading the design to planning of the extension to Walter Segal’s seminal home in Highgate.

Model: William Guthrie
Model Photographs: Jack Hobhouse


Filed under:
Renovation, Extension




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