a clear priority was to respect the existence and history of the house and related structures on the site. it was also noted that the house did not address what is perhaps its greatest natural feature, and amenity – caragh lake itself – and that any proposal should respond in a positive manner to that deficiency. the existing house becomes an element of a new composition, with the contemporary extension element setting up a ‘journey to the lake’, where the visual amenity of the waterside environment adjacent is discovered by the visitor as they move through the house.
to add another dimension to this quality residence in such an outstanding natural setting, and to give it an interaction with the lake that it did not already enjoy, was both the projects greatest opportunity and its major challenge.
