Press Release
Elizabeth's Tree House Dining Hall by McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects Wins the Silver A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects acknowledged for interior space and exhibition design by the international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category for Elizabeth's Tree House Dining Hall by McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects, designed for Barretstown Camp. The award was conferred within the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Silver A' Design Award Explained
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
About Elizabeth's Tree House Dining Hall
A demonstration of architecture’s role in the healing process, Elizabeth’s Tree House is a new dining pavilion for therapeutic camp in Kildare. Serving children recovering from serious illnesses the space forms a timber oasis in the middle of an oak forest. A dynamic yet functional timber diagrid system includes an expressive roof, extensive glazing, and a colorful larch cladding, creating an interior dining space that forms a dialogue with the surrounding lake and forest. Deep connection with nature at all levels promotes user comfort, relaxation, healing, and enchantment.
About McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects
McCauley Daye O’Connell Architects were founded with a mission to drive positive industry change through good design and innovation. Committed to improving client’s businesses and organizations, architectural profession and society by research, environmentally sustainable design and appreciation of the natural world. At the forefront of sustainable, evidence-based design, MDO Architects create cutting edge places, spaces and buildings which are sympathetic to their context, cost effective, and enjoyable for the end users. Their projects are defined by unique identity and deliver a special experience through the seamless fusion of design and operation.
Award Record
With this recognition, McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Entries typically include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. Awarded interior designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/104597
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/104597
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!104597
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/276477
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.mdo.ie/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Elizabeth's Tree House Dining Hall
- Function
- Dining Hall
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Peru, Dark Gray, Silver, Sienna and Crimson
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Barretstown Camp
The Recognition
- Laureate
- McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects
- Country
- Ireland
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2019 - 2020
- Design ID
- #104597
Credits
- Image Credits
- Photographer Donal Murphy, 2017.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Flanked by a secret garden wall and castle landscaping, the radiating diagrid pattern weaves and forms a new building which adopts to the landscape and characteristics of the wider grounds and structures. The building blurs the lines of indoor / outdoor space with irregular shapes and floating terraces. Energetic vibrant colours are used extensively throughout with a sense of fun in mind. A playful place in constant dialogue with nature. A new focal point. An inclusive space for all to enjoy collectively, night and day.
- Inspiration
- Located in an overgrown woodland in the heart of the camp, the new dining hall was imagined as a treehouse in the forest, weaving through the tall oak trees to create a dialogue with nature. In keeping with the camp’s ethos of serious fun, the dining pavilion is envisioned as an enchanted portal surrounded by nature, forming connections with the lake, countryside, and forest life.
- Research
- Using the therapeutic recreation model the building design was developed to not only respect and preserve its natural habitat but to fully integrate the building and the experience into it. Using natural materials, we created a fun “treehouse” concept with internal trees and a rising volume. Large areas of glass in the walls and roof for natural light are capitalising on the views and rolling landscape, with plenty of colour for “serious fun”. Like other therapeutic centers, the positive impact of well-designed buildings on the human healing process is well documented.
- Challenge
- Camp is situated in Kildare and provides full dining, sleeping and activities for weekend camps for children and their families affected by cancer and serious illness. The camp helps children and their families deal with the emotional and physiological scars often left after months and years of treatment. Offering a completely free stay at their camp, their experience is based on a therapeutic recreation model leading to recovery, with children leaving the camp with increased confidence, self-esteem and the skills they need to face the rest of their journey to recovery.
- Realization and Technology
- The scheme’s attention to performance extends to its materiality. The building is heavily insulated, achieving an A3 energy rating, while the primary timber structure ensures that walls, roofs, and external cladding are derived from sustainable sources. The entire timber cladding is protected using Sioo, an environmentally-friendly, water-based system, while a secondary aluminum sub-frame allows the timber cladding to be panelised to match the geometric grid lines and natural rigour of the diagrid design.
- Operation and Interaction
- The resulting scheme is functional yet magical. Echoing the therapeutic nature of this medically endorsed camp, the pavilion is a demonstration of the role of architecture in the healing process, where a deep connection with nature at all levels promotes user comfort, relaxation, healing, and enchantment.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in January 2016 and was completed in December 2016 in Co. Kildare, Ireland
- Specifications
- A bright and airy dining space greets children on entry, where large areas of glass in the walls and roof maximise natural light and capitalise on views of the rolling landscape. The structurally expressive roof, punctuated with four large triangular roof lights, is supported by four primary steel/timber “tree” columns, continuing the dialogue between inside and outside. The internal space is also connected to an external deck via a series of sliding doors, allowing for universal access onto an external space overlooking the existing pond.
- Keywords
- healing, sustainable, universaldesign, therapeutic, timber
