Construction Diary: An Irish Architect’s Passive House Shows the Strength of Cross-Laminated Timber
John-Barry Lowe returns to the Dublin neighborhood of his youth to build the sustainable "prototype" home of his dreams.
John-Barry Lowe returns to the Dublin neighborhood of his youth to build the sustainable "prototype" home of his dreams.
Dublin’s Portobello neighborhood has a checkered history. Built on a picturesque canal, it began life in the 18th century as a small suburb on the southern edge of the city. Later, it was nicknamed "Little Jerusalem" on account of its thriving Jewish community. Just a few decades ago, it was a rough-and-ready residential district, full of low-budget bedsits and old-school groceries.
These days, the traditional stores have mostly been replaced by trendy eateries—to such an extent that that the area was dubbed a "culinary hotbed" in a 2017 New York Times article, much to the surprise of many local residents.
"I believe that if there’s a place for everything then nothing is out of place," says architect John-Barry Lowe. "I’ve tried to incorporate that into a lot of the furniture design and functionality."
Photo by Andrew Campion
Portobello holds a special place in the heart of architect John-Barry Lowe, of Dublin’s Eden architects, who grew up on nearby Baggot Street and went on to live in several house shares in the neighborhood before moving away. In 2023, he moved back with his wife, Carol, and two daughters, having finally constructed his own house in one of the laneways off the terraced streets the area is famous for.
Location was important, but John-Barry’s priority was to find a brownfield site, and to build a home from scratch using cross-laminated timber (CLT) that would meet the requirements of the Passive House Institute, without the constraints of renovating a historic house.
"It would be too much to do a whole house in timber, but I thought it would be fun to have one room that was 100% CLT. I call this space the wooden box, and it's part home office, part where my wife likes to do yoga."">"It would be too much to do a whole house in timber, but I thought it would be fun to have one room that was 100 percent CLT," says John-Barry. "I call this mezzanine space overlooking the living room the ‘wooden box,’ and it’s part home office, part where my wife likes to do yoga."
Photo by Andrew Campion
"We integrated the bike storage into the front wall of the house, so the bikes are very easy to access," John-Barry says. "I like the idea of living in the city, and that you can easily come and go on your bike."
Photo by Andrew Campion
See the full story on Dwell.com: Construction Diary: An Irish Architect’s Passive House Shows the Strength of Cross-Laminated Timber
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