Youth and Community Centre

  • 2003—2006
  • Donore Avenue, Dublin 8, Ireland
  • Client: Dublin City Council

This project is the first step in a wider re-generation programme for the Teresa’s Gardens Flats complex and the Donore Avenue Area in the Dublin Liberties. The new building replaces an older dilapidated community centre that sat on the same site. The area to the north of the community centre is to be developed as a linear park linked to the sports park at the rear of Teresa’s Gardens housing complex.

The centre houses two permanent user groups: a Youth Services Centre and a Community Drug Team, although the larger rooms are available to other community groups. The expression of the various volumes and functions in the building however, are deliberately suppressed to emphasise the building as a single large house or villa. Internally the building has been designed to be flexible, as it is anticipated the needs of the community as well as the funding of programmes will change.

The space to the street on the ground floor is occupied by a drop-in centre for any member of the community. This creates a link between the two entrances; main general entrance to the northeast and the CDT entrance to the southeast.

The largest volume in the building is the Community Hall proper. This is wrapped in beech on three sides with a clerestory, three-story section making a connection to the roof garden above.
A side door to the north provides access to and from a number of all weather pitches from the internal changing rooms, which complete the ground floor accommodation.

The first floor is divided between the CDT accommodation and three activity rooms, with further CDT accommodation and Youth Services offices on the second floor. A roof garden on the second floor is shared by all user groups. The deep plan and compact form have been manipulated in section so that all the main activity spaces enjoy light from at least two directions.

Site Plan
Site Plan
Cross Section
Cross Section
South Elevation
South Elevation
Cross Section
Cross Section
North Elevation
North Elevation
Ground Floor Plan
Ground Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Drag
Long Section
Long Section
East Elevation
East Elevation
Long Section
Long Section
West Elevation
West Elevation

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