
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
40 | MCGURK ARCHITECTS
The building, dubbed An Lon Dubh,
or the blackbird, is located on a site
previously a haven for anti-social
activity. It is now the hub for Ceathrú
Gaeltachta, Belfast’s Irish-language
speaking quarter. The compact
radio station’s four-storey tower
is efficiently designed to leave a
small carbon footprint and includes
managed workspaces for culture-based
enterprises and community outreach
activities. Raidío Fáilte 107.1FM is now
the gateway to a resurgent, confident
West Belfast emerging from and
acknowledging the historically troubled
physical and social narrative of its past.
The judge’s citation at the 2019
RSUA Design Awards said: “This is a
remarkable project in a very demanding
location. The judges were equally
impressed by the skills exercised by
the architects in working with the
budget to produce a building of great
character, simplicity andvalue.”
Our inspiration
It’s little wonder that the themes of
community and shared working-class
heritage inspire and permeate our
work. I am one of thirteen children from
a family steeped in Gaelic tradition. My
grandfather Anthony was interned in
Frongoch, Wales, along with other Irish
nationalists following the 1916 Easter
Rising, while two of Anthony’s brothers
saw service with the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police during the First World
War – a shared history seeing two
sides of the samestory.
It also provided a personal link to
the subject matter of our Aras Uí
Chonghaile project further along the
Falls Road from Raidió Fáilte. Opened
recently by the president of Ireland,
Michael D. Higgins, Fáilte Feirste Thiar’s
renovation of a derelict terrace tells
the life story of James Connolly: his
impoverished upbringing in Edinburgh,
his time in the British Army, his role
as a pioneer of the early trade union
movement and his socialist writings,
through to his role in the 1916 Easter
Rising and subsequent execution. The
museum and visitors centre is indeed
a great addition to West Belfast’s
expanding tourist offering.
The corten steel cladding alludes to
the industrial heritage of Belfast city,
while the perforated panels depicting
the iconic image of Connolly allow
dappled sunlight to permeate deep
into the building’s ground floor café
and library. Connolly campaigned
tirelessly from his home here on the
Falls Road between 1910 and 1916
to help greatly improve the conditions
experienced by an exploited working
class at the turn of the 20th century.
Aras Uí Chonghaile’s
facade (left) and cafe
(right)
We are
inspired by the
themes of
community
and shared
working-class
heritage, and
they permeate
our work
“
“
41MCGURK ARCHITECTS |
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
Investing for growth
Connection with local communities
and understanding local environments
and cultural values has been pivotal
to our business since its inception.
During the longest Irish and UK
property boom on record, we thrived
and expanded to 35 staff before the
recession hit. We were fortunate that
our client base was not overladen
with speculative developers and,
throughout this period, managed to
maintain an integrity in the quality of
our design work.
The business was forced to reduce
overheads, and our swift recovery has
been achieved through reinvestment
in office management systems and the
upskilling of staff. In difficult times,
great assistance was provided by Invest
Northern Ireland’s various support
measures. Overall efficiency improved,
and the company’s enhanced profile
saw successful tenders for public
works professional services contracts.
The quality of the recently completed
award-winning projects is testimony to
the thorough implementation of these
procedures.
The judge’s citation for Corriewood
Private Clinic at the 2018 RSUA Design
Awards states: “This project acts as
an exemplar, both demonstrating a
considered approach to development
in the grounds of a listed building,
and a model for the provision of
residential accommodation for an
elderlypopulation.”
2020 vision
In early 2018, the practice’s design
for Sinead McGurk Opticians won the
UK Practice of the Year at the AOP
Awards2018.
Presently, we are the design and build
site architects for Islington Council
on their Bunhill II Energy Centre.
This pilot project captures waste
heat from the London Underground
tube system, bringing a cheaper,
greener, low-carbon heat source to
thecommunity.
We are keen to contribute at a larger
scale to the built fabric of London and
elsewhere in the UK, particularly in
areas such as social housing and large
public projects. Bridging that gap is
the next stage in the development of
our practice. From a Northern Ireland
perspective, it is highly regrettable that
the draft EU–UK withdrawal paper
proposed by Theresa May in November
2017 was rejected as it would surely
have boosted Northern Ireland’s
economy and made it an attractive
investment opportunity for companies
around the world.
Connecting with
local
communities and
understanding
local
environments
and cultural
values has been
pivotal to our
business
“
“
Corriewood Private
Clinic
Facade brick detail