LONDON IRISH CENTRE
Unanimous planning approval for the home of the Irish Community in London; located adjacent to locally listed buildings and important heritage assets
FOR LONDON IRISH CENTRE, CAMDEN, LONDON
The 45,000sqft project replaces the London Irish Centre’s current adhoc, dilapidated extensions with a contemporary building that compliments the historic 19th century villas facing Camden Square.
Externally the project presents a strong contemporary presence that responds to the physical and historic context, as well as the multi-faceted requirements of the brief. Internally, spaces are designed to ensure the Centre can perform as a world-class community and cultural institution, with state of the art performance and exhibition technology deployed where necessary. Contrasts in light and shadow, grandeur and intimacy were developed to evoke feelings of ‘home’, represented with a distinct material pattern language that embeds the project with meaning and significance.
A SIGNIFICANT CORNER
The Murray Street/Mews corner of the buildings mass is carved out by the lines of south light that shine directly into the heart of the community hub. By opening up the corner of the building, our designs allow for an opportunity to harness a moment of light at midday when the sun will shine directly into the community hub. At night this significant corner will emit a soft glow, evoking a candle in the window - a reference to a speech by Mary Robinson, Ireland's first female president, which noted the Irish tradition of placing a lit candle on the window sill as a symbolic beacon to welcome loved ones home. Our new corner adopts the language of playful, characterful corners found throughout Victorian London, that through transparency, pattern & artificial ‘candle-lit’ interrupts this metaphor into a visible beacon to the Irish Diaspora.
INTERWEAVING MEANINGFUL STORIES OF IRISH CULTURE
The new community hub, placed adjacent to the fully accessible main entrance from Murray Street, is the heart of the new Centre. This space is envisioned as a 21st Fulacht Fiadh, a place of gathering defined by a unique geometry, underpinned by the 32 segments that symbolically link Ireland to London – representing an all-Ireland Centre. Here, the community will gather to tell, and make new stories.
A MOMENT OF LIGHT
Inspired by the passage of light at Newgrange, the geometry of our gathering space is orientated to amplify a moment of light at 12 noon on March 17th, St.Patrick's Day. The light captured within this space will form a focal point for the community to gather around, allowing them to celebrate their successes as a migrant community and to reflect upon their place within 21st century London.
LOCATION
Camden, London
SIZE
43,000 sqft
STATUS
Planning achieved
CLIENT
London Irish Centre Charity