Tigh na Faille is a proposed replacement dwelling on an exposed coastal site on the Dingle Peninsula. The existing house developed from a small nineteenth-century building, once part of a clachan-type settlement, and was subsequently altered and extended. The proposal draws upon the underlying principles of the local vernacular, particularly the grouping of simple building forms, narrow proportions and the creation of shelter within an exposed landscape.

The house is composed of two narrow pitched-roof volumes, splayed in response to the coastal outlook, prevailing Atlantic weather and the natural topography. Their arrangement creates a sheltered terrace between the principal living spaces, while presenting narrower gable ends towards the exposed coastline. Set further back from the cliff edge, the dwelling works with the falling terrain, accommodating bedrooms at ground level and elevated living spaces opening onto the upper terrace. A cascading concrete stair connects these spaces with the garden below.

The material palette is deliberately restrained, combining natural slate, white render, aluminium-framed glazing and local fieldstone. The white rendered upper volumes draw upon the tradition of limewashed rural buildings, but also suggest pale rock formations emerging from the coastal landscape. Beneath them, a substantial stone base anchors the house to the terrain, using suitable stone salvaged from the existing dwelling as facing to the ground-floor walls. This contrast between the lighter forms above and the weight of the stone below establishes a relationship between building and landscape, while carrying material from the original house into its replacement.

The proposal seeks to reinterpret the proportions, materials and practical intelligence of traditional rural building through a contemporary family home, shaped by its setting, climate and the everyday requirements of those who live there.