HARTSTONGE HOUSE
Refurbishment of a Georgian House, Limerick, 100m2, completed 2008 Georgian Limerick was developed according to the famous plan of Sir Sexton Perry from about 1760 onwards. New Town Perry, as it is called, was planned in a tight grid extending the medieval city of Limerick into a modern urban centre. This period terraced townhouse is located on Hartstonge Street, adjacent to the Crescent and O’Connell Street, in the heart of Limerick City.
The protected structure was purchased in a state of disrepair late 2006. The ambition was to restore the key historical elements of the dwelling and to remodel the interior to serve primarily as a residence for lecturers and other Academia visiting the University of Limerick. Looks can be deceiving; the street facade exudes the notion of a grand spacious interior, in reality the building comprises of modest single room accommodation on each floor poorly lit from the single aspect south west facing facade. The challenge was to modernise the spatially economic interior but restore and refurbish the historically important fabric and details, the street facade and roof finishes in particular.
Brick and limestone rubble fill was removed from the North East facing rear elevation and new hard wood framed window units inserted to introduce additional day light to 4 no. floors. A bathroom extension recently constructed to the rear of the structure was demolished and removed from the diminutive yard area; the foundations of which were excavated to create a hard surfaced seated terrace now accessible from both ground and lower ground floors. The ground level floor construction was altered to create a studio mezzanine overlooking the kitchen and dining space below. Inspired from the traditional Georgian sash window design, a double height, top hung, hard wood framed, outward folding window unit with a weighted opening mechanism was engineered and constructed to serve as a canopy to the external terrace.
