Galway based Paul Dillon Architects has won the Best Educational Building Award for its extension to Gairmscoil na bPiarsach in Rosmuc at the 2017 RIAI Architecture Awards. The company also won the Highly Commended Award for its design of the extension to Kilrickle National School.
The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI ) announced the winners of the awards at a ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House last week. The awards celebrate the quality of work carried out by RIAI members in 2016 and highlight the contribution that architects make to society for everyone’s benefit.
Now in its 28th year and with a record 18 categories, this year’s shortlist included 60 projects, spanning 13 counties across Ireland as well as three international projects in Hungary, Palestine, and Poland.
The jury unanimously selected the extension to Gairmscoil na bPiarsach as the winner and the extension to Kilrickle National School for the Highly Commended Award. "Their scale is consistent and modest, demonstrating skill with a restricted school budget," an RIAI statement read. "The architectural language was admired for its appropriateness to child and adult alike. Space-making within the school site was an intrinsic part of the designs and contributes successfully to the scheme as a whole and its relationship with its context.”
“We are truly delighted with these awards," Paul Dillon of Paul Dillon Architects said. "We feel that school design should not be solely confined to the building of large schools in urban areas. Small schools play a very important role in the sustainability of rural life in Ireland. We are honoured to have the opportunity to add these small school projects to our large scale award-winning commercial and residential projects in urban areas.”
For the full list of winners see www.RIAI.ie
