Situated overlooking a lake in the North-West of Ireland, this estate consists of a main home, originally a Hunting Lodge, which was built in the early 1800s, associated outbuildings, a walled garden and a small fishing cottage. On the grounds of the estate, there is about 50 acres of broadleaf woodland which is 200 years old. A river, waterfall and forest pathways run throughout the site.

The clients came to NOJI with several key goals in mind for the future of the site. Firstly, they wished to improve the Hunting Lodges built fabric as well as adjusting the plan to allow it to suit their way of living. Secondly, they wished to add a connective thread through the site by introducing several small-scale buildings with functions that compliment the surrounding landscape and their lifestyle. In addition to these new buildings, the client wished to renovate and breathe life back into the ancillary buildings, walled gardens and fishing cottage.

With these goals taken on-board, NOJI began work on creating a framework on how to approach a project of such scale while also considering which expert opinions were needed to inform the design of the varying interventions. This led to working with landscape architecture company thirtytreetrees in developing a document which outlines each of the interventions designs, challenges and next steps.

This working document was key in understanding the sites links between its buildings, its cultural character and its ecological context. It also helps maintain focus on delivering a scheme which was responsive to its site. That is to say, designing with the climate and not against it, nurturing the existing ecosystem and producing clean on-site energy are all key objectives for this scheme.