Residential Buildings Known as Old School House Apartments
The Old School House Apartments: A Transformative Social Housing Project in Arklow, Ireland
In the heart of Arklow town, a former library and technical school on St. Mary's Road has been metamorphosed into the Old School House Apartments. This project, a testament to state-funded urban and community regeneration, is the brainchild of O'Connell Mahon Architects (OCMA).
The Old School House Apartments, a remarkable instance of OCMA breaking away from their typical design practice, aims to reinvigorate the street on which it sits while preserving the historic and cultural heritage of Arklow town. The building, first constructed in 1915, boasts Art Nouveau features that have been carefully retained and renovated.
OCMA's brief was to deliver energy-efficient, contemporary apartments while retaining the character of the original building. The project involved the delivery of seven apartments (five one-bed and two two-bed) within the existing building's footprint. The entire building was re-rendered with a high-performance acrylic render system, and the existing slate roof and decorative clay ridge tiles were reused, with new replacement slates added where necessary.
The central staircase, fluted timber handrail, decorative balustrading, and terrazzo flooring of the existing central staircase were retained and renovated. Similar tiles were used as splashbacks around bathroom sinks and showers. The ground floor apartments were designed to cater to tenants with specific accessibility needs, featuring level access showers and own door access through new ramped and stepped routes around the perimeter of the building.
Window placements along the facades were mostly retained to preserve the building's character. Cast aluminium rainwater hoppers and downpipes were installed, profiled to match the originals and colored to match the new high-performance energy-rated aluminium windows and doors.
Internally, the apartments feature simple and bright finishing materials, including white high-gloss kitchen units, washed timber laminate worktops, and white matt tile splashbacks. OCMA commented on the project, stating they were delighted to demonstrate their skills as architects on this unique and rewarding project, marking it as their first social housing project.
The renovation and re-purposing of the Old School House Apartments were recognised in the Irish Building & Design Awards, providing a morale boost for the team and the office. The Old School House Apartments, now standing as a symbol of successful urban and community regeneration, continues to contribute to the vibrancy of Arklow town.
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