Month: July 2016

Many thanks to the folks at Carlow Garden Trail for the invitation to deliver the opening talk of this year’s festival. I had a great time in Leighlinbridge. Diarmuid wasn’t bad that evening either. Read more »

In any discussion on architecture we will hear a lot of use of the word “vernacular”. What exactly is the vernacular, what does it mean? It’s the name given to the type of building, in any country, that reflects local traditions and which has developed based on local needs and available materials. Supposedly planning authorities… Read more »

Every so often I am asked to do a design clinic at the Kilsaran showrooms in Dunboyne in Co. Meath. The showrooms up there, with their impressive facilities and even more impressive collection of mocked up gardens, attract a lot of householders who are in the market for some sort of outside makeover. The choice… Read more »

It’s funny how these coincidences work. Last week I talked about the endurance of the American streetscape, of their front yards divided (if at all) by “living” fences, of the value they place on mature trees. All of this positivity of course was countered, I remind myself, by a healthy slice of cynicism towards the… Read more »