An Leabharlann (The Library)
Client: Private
Type: Renovation and Addition
Gross Internal Area: 28 sqm / 301 sqft
Status: in Construction
Location: Co. Kerry
Date: 2024-
A reading room and writing refuge nestled into the hillside is delicately grafted onto the side of a stone vernacular two-storey farmhouse
Drawing inspiration from the single-barrel-vaulted hay barns once prevalent across Kerry's agricultural landscape, the library adopts their elemental form and material character. These barns—roofed in corrugated steel and sited close to the farmhouse—once played a vital role in rural life, serving as shelters for hay and livestock. Though now increasingly rare, their typology is deeply embedded in the collective memory of the Irish countryside. The form of the new structure pays homage to this vanishing heritage, reasserting its presence in a contemporary context and on a site where hay was once traditionally piled into a coca féir by the former farmer.
The library will be clad in stone salvaged from the ruins of the client’s grandmother’s birthplace—a long-collapsed homestead in nearby Doonshean whose weathered stones carry layers of personal and cultural memory.
A glazed internal stair delicately connects the library to the original farmhouse, creating a transparent threshold between past and present. Within, an enfilade of naturally lit spaces, layered views are framed through the structure and out toward the rolling fields and distant Atlantic horizon. The vaulted ceiling enhances the verticality of the space, drawing the eye upward and reinforcing the contemplative atmosphere.
The material palette is intentionally restrained and tactile. Custom oak shelving and low-level cabinetry line the interior, housing the clients’ expansive book collection and serving as both a practical amenity and an expressive architectural feature.
A generous window seat offers an invitation to pause, read, or gaze outward. Oriented toward the sun and the sea, it offers a place of stillness and solace, where the rhythms of landscape and light can be quietly observed and absorbed.
Client: Private
Type: Renovation and Addition
Gross Internal Area: 28 sqm / 301 sqft
Status: in Construction
Location: Co. Kerry
Date: 2024-
A reading room and writing refuge nestled into the hillside is delicately grafted onto the side of a stone vernacular two-storey farmhouse
Drawing inspiration from the single-barrel-vaulted hay barns once prevalent across Kerry's agricultural landscape, the library adopts their elemental form and material character. These barns—roofed in corrugated steel and sited close to the farmhouse—once played a vital role in rural life, serving as shelters for hay and livestock. Though now increasingly rare, their typology is deeply embedded in the collective memory of the Irish countryside. The form of the new structure pays homage to this vanishing heritage, reasserting its presence in a contemporary context and on a site where hay was once traditionally piled into a coca féir by the former farmer.
The library will be clad in stone salvaged from the ruins of the client’s grandmother’s birthplace—a long-collapsed homestead in nearby Doonshean whose weathered stones carry layers of personal and cultural memory.
A glazed internal stair delicately connects the library to the original farmhouse, creating a transparent threshold between past and present. Within, an enfilade of naturally lit spaces, layered views are framed through the structure and out toward the rolling fields and distant Atlantic horizon. The vaulted ceiling enhances the verticality of the space, drawing the eye upward and reinforcing the contemplative atmosphere.
The material palette is intentionally restrained and tactile. Custom oak shelving and low-level cabinetry line the interior, housing the clients’ expansive book collection and serving as both a practical amenity and an expressive architectural feature.
A generous window seat offers an invitation to pause, read, or gaze outward. Oriented toward the sun and the sea, it offers a place of stillness and solace, where the rhythms of landscape and light can be quietly observed and absorbed.
