Patrick Bradley Architects has revived a dilapidated Irish farmhouse by adding an extension made from a shipping container. The studio decided to preserve the foundations of the ruined structure, which is more than two centuries old, and the remains of the house’s stonework, because, according to the architects, “this provides an opportunity to maintain a deep emotional connection with the land’s past, a sense of its identity.”
The main living spaces are housed in a shipping container supported by steel columns. Inside, there is an open-plan kitchen and dining area, a small bathroom, and a bedroom clad in plywood. The design also includes sliding doors that open onto a balcony overlooking a meadow. In adapting the old ruins and container for modern living, the studio sought to make the most of existing materials, including ancient stones and an old gate.
The former utility room on the property has been converted into an extension with a fireplace and a guest bedroom on the mezzanine. This extension retains its original character: the galvanized corrugated steel roof hints at the building’s former agricultural use, while visually connecting it to the residential container. The yew tree, which grows in the very center of the site, acts as a symbolic beacon to which all the objects on the property aspire.
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