An office building in the heart of Dublin city's Docklands has been chosen as the winner of the 2022 RIAI Public Choice Award.
Number 10-12 Hanover Quay is an "excellent example of how historic fabric can be retained in a sensitive and imaginative way", according to the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.
"It retains historical essence and contribute to the sense of place and the industrial aesthetic of the Docklands," the RIAI said.
It was designed by O'Mahony Pike Architects with Mola Architecture.
The adapted development has a variety of spaces including a roof terrace, large open plan areas within the warehouse, and more compact floor plates within the new glass box.
"The building offers fantastic waterfront views with a choice of entrances," according to the RIAI.
O'Mahony Pike said the project is the final piece of the range of warehouse structures at Hanover Quay to be developed.
The three-bay warehouse with its associated laneway and stables is a listed structure, with emphasis on its existing "roofscape".
"The scheme treats the existing listed walls as a stone base, upon which a contemporary glass and metal structure floats," it said.
"A zinc pitched roof hovers over the warehouse building, a tall steel-framed glass box rises over the laneway and stables, both separated by a clear glass band, expressing the new and old structures," it added.
The building is currently leased to the US financial technology company Fiserv.
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It was selected as the winner from a shortlist of 30 projects designed by registered architects based in Ireland and completed in 2021.
More than 13,000 people voted in the Public Choice Award.
This year's shortlisted entrants were located the length and breadth of the country in Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Meath and Westmeath, as well as internationally in London and Liverpool, UK, and Chicago, USA.
Second place went to Cobh Public Realm Urban Design Plan project in Cork, designed by Cork County Council, Capital Projects Department.
It was described as an "exemplar" in creating sustainable communities through a "people-first" approach.
"This fabulous project demonstrates the importance of community engagement in how we redesign our cities and towns as place for people," according to the RIAI.
"Reimagining these places breathes new life into areas and attracts more people who want to live, work and recreate here. This project also supports reuse and adaption of existing structures," it added.
The Bottleworks on Barrow Street in Dublin claimed third place.
Designed by Henry J Lyons, "the beautifully restored Bottleworks navigtes a confined urban site maximising daylight while minimising overlooking and overshadowing of adjoining residential properties".
The formerly derelict factory is replaced with a screened concrete frame punctuated by five courtyards to draw light deep into the heart of the building.
"Reference to the site's history of a glass bottle-works is reflected in the fit-out with fluted details, circular imprints and green accents while the building’s absolute modernity is asserted through contemporary sustainability and biodiversity installations," the RIAI said.
