Mayo-based architects' Highly Commended in RIAI Silver Medal for Housing award

THE Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) has Highly Commended a project designed by Mayo and Galway based SJK Architects in the RIAI Silver Medal for Housing.

The high commendation was presented to the directors of SJK Architects Elaine Naughton, Dermot McCabe and Edel Tobin by Minister Dara Calleary and RIAI president Fionnuala May, FRIAI, at the RIAI and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Joint Housing Conference in Sligo.

The jury said of their award-winning project: “This is a bundle of six social housing schemes in six Irish towns, Macroom, Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Shannon, Ballyburke (Galway) and Slievekeale (Waterford). Own-door houses and apartments placed close to the street, modest front garden spaces neatly enclosing bin and bike storage, vernacular gables and corner buildings all contribute towards a safe and truly welcoming living environment, a place where the community is clearly thriving. The concept of proposing a system of principles and details for use across the country is particularly welcome as an ambition for why design matters.”

Presenting the High Commendation, Minister Dara Calleary said: “Smart architecture strengthens communities by creating inclusive spaces that embrace our natural environment and serve our society. By putting community at the heart of housing design we can ensure that new housing developments add long-term value to our neighbourhoods.”

The RIAI Silver Medal for Housing is the highest award for housing design given by the RIAI. It is a biennial award made to encourage excellence of design in housing. The medal is awarded to an architect or architectural practice for projects of significant merit completed within the specified two-year period.

It is awarded several years after completion so that the success of the building can be confirmed by the passage of time.

The Silver Medal award for the period 2020-2021 is for Highfield Park Student Housing by DTA Architects. The project A System for Ordinary Housing by SJK Architects was highly commended in second place and provides 335 own-door long-term family homes.

ABOUT A SYSTEM FOR ORDINARY HOUSING BY SJK ARCHITECTS

Following a previous Silver Medal commendation for their design for Cluan Padraig Housing in Westport, in 2017, SJK Architects, in association with Gerry Cahill, were awarded the commission by the National Development Finance Agency following a public tender competition. This was a great opportunity of central government recognising the talent and abilities of regional SMEs such as SJK Architects in Galway and Mayo to deliver critical state housing projects.

The brief was to design bespoke social housing in six locations in parallel: three in Co. Cork to design Social Housing Bundle 2 - Macroom, Clonakilty and Skibbereen; and one each in Shannon Town Co. Clare, Ballyburke Galway and Slievekeale Waterford. The total number of homes designed was 335 (243 terraced houses and 92 own-door apartments) across the 6 towns.

The design approach was based on low-rise 2-3-storey medium density housing enclosing high quality shared open spaces, while minimising the dominance of cars. Streets, squares and pocket parks are bounded and overlooked by homes.

This design philosophy learns from and follows a tradition of social housing design in Ireland, that contributed to strong senses of place as extensions to existing towns: from the masterplan and house types of Marino in Dublin designed by Horace O’Rourke in the 1920’s; to the Bord na Móna villages designed by Frank Gibney in the 1950s. The association of Gerry Cahill with SJK Architects on this project connects and builds on this tradition and experience of simple, high-quality social housing to form connected sense of place.

The 335 dwellings designed by SJK for the SHB2 project is a drop in the ocean in the ongoing national housing emergency, but its strength is in its balance of a system that can be replicated at scale to address the national and ongoing crisis, while at the same time delivering affordable, dignified, elegant homes in neighbourhoods that feel a natural extension to – and part of - the typical Irish town. Collectively these 335 homes make a case for the continuing tradition of a social architecture for the public good, an ordinary architecture for society.

Published in 'Architecture Ireland', dated April 2024 titled 'A System for Ordinary Housing', a review written by Head of Housing Strategy at Limerick City and County Council, Sarah Newell, wrote: “What makes (SJK-designed housing at) Shannon remarkable is that it goes beyond basic provision in terms of the site, the dwelling layout, and the space surrounding. In doing so, it is remarkable, but it really shouldn’t be. This scheme sets a precedent for future housing projects, illustrating that good architecture does not merely provide shelter but fosters a sense of safety, belonging, identity, and connection. In Shannon, this scheme is truly safe and convivial. Community runs through it.”

SJK Architects are delighted for their work in housing to be recognised in the 2026 Silver Medal for Housing scheme, particularly following a previous Silver Medal commendation for Westport’s Cluan Padraig Housing design, together with recent Irish Architecture Awards for Co. Mayo projects Scoil Phadraig in Westport, Scoil Naomh Bríd in Ballina and an Architectural Association of Ireland Award for Mayo County Council’s offices in Claremorris.

With the current government target to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030, SJK Architects look forward to making their contribution from Mayo and Galway to help solve the ongoing national housing crisis in the coming years with more low-rise medium-density high-quality housing projects using their RIAI Silver Medal highly commended 'system for ordinary housing'.