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THE LARK CONCERT Hall in Balbriggan, Co Dublin has won the ‘Public Choice’ award at the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) Architecture Awards.
The new venue was a North County Dublin project through and through, as it was designed by architect Stephen Foley from Donabate and built by Vision Contracting and local subcontractors Thomana Construction Ltd from Rush.
Castleblaney’s new library building and the regeneration of its market square came second in the category, while Kinsale Library came third.
Kinsale Library by Cork County Council Architects’ Department also won the Conservation, Adaptation and Re-Use category of the architecture awards. The judges described it as “an inspiring example of how vacant buildings in our towns can be transformed into vibrant community amenities”.
The Lark, which opened last December, can seat 400 people.
There were 180 entries for the public choice prize and a shortlist of 42.
Michael P. Dawson, chair of the Irish Institute of Music and Song – which owns the new venue - said the award confirmed its “design and functionality”.
In total, 20 winners were announced across nine categories at the architecture awards. The full list of winners is available here.
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A beautiful concert venue..on a par with any. This is a great addition to the town of Balbriggan.
@JP: wow. Seats 400. It’s right up there with the Worlds great concert halls.
I was in Florence(Italy) three weeks ago and there are no buildings here to compare with the archicture in the churches there for example.That Lance concert hall would nearly fit into the porch of the cathedral there.
@Willie Marty: Bet they don’t have spice bags though
@Willie Marty: Sorry Willie, but that’s not a sensible statement.
@Willie Marty: First time abroad?
Never heard of it.
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: You did now.
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: ‘The news’ is informative, eh?
Knock down a wall, make the room bigger.
The link doesn’t go to the awards… the whole digital presence is a rag-doll effort at presenting these works tbh, no doubt an article pertaining to ‘climate crises’ is much more valuable real estate in this context (we wonder why we’re at the junction we are). From the narrow one photo that has no click through, the form for me is, 9. Special Award for Collaboration between Designers and Craftspersons, beautifully done.
More boring, uninspiring rubbish from the land of boring, box like buildings from architects with an imagination bypass regulated by clowns who think Ireland is their own private museum
have your say