ALTO VETRO, the 16-storey residential tower in Dublin’s Grand Canal Docks, has won the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) housing medal for Shay Cleary Architects.
Conceived as a “pristine glazed rectangular free-standing object” and developed by Treasury Holdings, it rises from a site of less than 170 sq m and has the highest plot ratio of any building in the city.
Previously occupied by a two-storey house and, before that, an even smaller lock-keeper’s cottage, the site now supports 24 two-bedroom apartments, two three-bedroom duplexes and two shops.
RIAI president Paul Keogh said Alto Vetro “rightly makes a strong architectural statement” and its “slim elegance” as a significant new landmark was “pitch-perfect in its relation of form to site”. Shay Cleary said such a “vertical marker” responded to the significance of the site at an entrance to the city from the east and its pivotal location on the pedestrian route through Grand Canal Square.
“The architectural language of the scheme is consciously neutral and non-expressive of specific function or spatial arrangement in the interest of a singular architectural expression and presence,” he said.
Completed in 2008, Alto Vetro came too late to cash in on the property bubble, so all 26 apartments have been let rather than sold by the developers. Rental levels are believed to be comparatively high.
Runners-up for the silver medal were two social housing schemes commissioned by Dublin City Council.
Memorial Court, Kilmainham, which provides sheltered housing for senior citizens, was designed by the city architect’s department, and York Street, off St Stephen’s Green, by Seán Harrington Architects.
Both were highly commended.
