A new family home is to be built on a beautiful site with water views in Kinsale, County Cork.

The new house will become part of an existing house and garden which is occupied by another part of the family. The new house sits on the site of former cottages. The approach is to work with and from the existing place, building on an existing stone wall and reinforcing the existing pattern of building on the road edge.

The house is open on the ground floor with all private and storage rooms tucked against the stone wall at the road. A stone fire place anchors the family life which is organised to take advantage of the views to the water. Upstairs individual rooms are built into the attic, each room having a special view to the garden and landscape beyond.

The form of the house is simple – the area is scenic and a simple A-form silhouette is chosen. The first floor, built into the attic, is clad in slate and sites down on the existing stone wall along the road.