Galway-and Mayo-based SJK Architects were celebrating last weekend when their design of Westport’s new school Scoil Phádraig was recognized by two prestigious awards at the 2018 Irish Architecture Awards gala event held at Dublin’s Mansion House.
The beautiful new school was chosen by a jury of professional architects as overall winner in the Education category, and was awarded second place in the online voted Public Choice category.
With these two awards from 15 categories recognizing distinction among 187 new buildings, this is a major coup for ?the West, the only building outside the Dublin region awarded and in the final shortlist of 32 entries.
The jury visited all shortlisted buildings and in their citation said that “it was a pleasure to visit Scoil Phádraig, with so much joy designed into every room”.
The awards ceremony included a broadcast of ?the school children’s voices talking about their new school. After a day sailing in Dublin Bay on board a yacht fittingly named “The Explorer of Westport”, the team from Westport and Galway-based SJK Architects attended the awards dinner dance event in Dublin’s Mansion House and were delighted to be presented the two awards by the president of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI ) on the night behalf of Scoil Phádraig’s Board of Management and the community of Westport.
With a feature on SJK’s recent Connemara Cultural Centre building in the current edition of the Irish Arts Review, commissions to master-plan and deliver hundreds of social and private dwellings across Ireland, prestigious tourism projects at planning stage, and these latest awards for the New School in Town project, the directors of SJK Architects are delighted that the practice’s profile and resources continue on an upward and positive trajectory.
SJK Architects’ team thoroughly enjoyed representing the West at the Dublin Awards event among an attendance of 450 of Ireland’s top corporate design and construction professionals, and are confident that these wins for ?the West will serve to prompt institutions, local authorities and bigger businesses in their awareness that a serious depth of construction expertise and design talent is available locally when considering projects in the region.
