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Brian Ó Curnáin
Portfolio - Part 1 Architect
CV
2020-2023
2014-2020
Brian Ó Curnáin
Briancurnain@gmail.com
Part 1 Architect
0834721809
5 Harrington Court, Synge Place, Portobello, Dublin 8
SKILLS
Sketchup
INTERESTS
Reading
Vectorworks Drawing Model making Languages Football Photoshop Indesign Autocad
Hand drawing Revit Illustrator Rhino
EDUCATION
Woodworking Running Travel Sustainability
First Class Honours - BA Architecture University College Dublin
Coláiste an Eachréidh, Athenry
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
566 Leaving Cert Points
2023-2024 Architecture Assistant
2023
2023
2022-2023
MGNÉ Architects
Worked on a range of projects from initial design to tender stages.
Architectural Assistant
Worked on a planning application for a house in Dublin.
Irish Pavilion - Venice Biennale
Boyd Cody Architects Designer
Invigilator
Presented the Irish Pavilion to visitors at the Arsenale.
UCD Architecture Society
Organised talks, designed posters and managed social media accounts.
2022-2023 Student Curator
2022
2023
2023
2022
2022
REFERENCES
Alice Clancy
UCD Architecture for Climate Action
Worked on talks and research projects for architectural climate action.
Scott Tallon Walker Architects
Architectural Assistant
Worked on a range of projects including planning, competitions and research.
ACHIEVEMENTS
First Class Honours in BA Architecture.
Chosen to invigilate at the 2023 Venice Biennale.
Bruce Shortt Memorial Prize Nominee.
UCD Architecture 2nd Year Project of the Year.
Chosen to represent Galway United in Football.. 2018
Hugh Campbell
Peter Carroll UCD Building Change UCD Architecture Irish Pavilion - Venice alice.clancy@ucd.ie hugh.campbell@ucd.ie pcarroll@a2.ie
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Experience
Baths Work
Settlement School
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Y.2 Sem.2 2022-2023
Y.3 Sem.1
Y.3 Sem.2
CONTENTS
Van 2022-2023
A SCHOOL ON THE SEA
CLARE ISLAND BOARDING SCHOOL
Designing for Future Island life.
The Clare Island boarding school project brief looked at the creation of a modern school in the face of climate change. The site was on the flood plains of a rural island off the west coast of Ireland. My project looked closely at growing the islands dwindling population and economy by keeping local second level students at home and bringing an influx of students from the mainland to the island. I also focused on building materials that were either found on the island or easily brought over from the mainland by ferry. My ethos with this project was to build with the natural environment, not against it. The interior spaces are flexible, allowing the local community to take ownership of the building, which will in turn pass on to the rising sea level as it inevitably reclaims the structure.
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map of Clare Island showing the location of the site. it was a field facing a road and a beach, in the most populated place on the island .
far right.
ground floor plan showing the free plan of the schools and where the water would enter and be resisted
right. below.
The first site plan shows the site as it is now in the present day. The second shows the site in 30 years according to the EPA’s worst case scenario projection .
6 A SCHOOL ON THE SEA. YEAR 3 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
7 CLARE ISLAND BOARDING SCHOOL. SEMESTER 2 PART 1 ARCHITECT
8 A SCHOOL ON THE SEA. YEAR 3 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
CLARE ISLAND BOARDING SCHOOL. SEMESTER 2 PART 1 ARCHITECT
axo of the accommodation, showing the sea under the structure and the saw-tooth roof scape.
experimentation with massing models looking at scale in context and form.
interior of the school, showing free space for community use
above. right.
left.
10 A SCHOOL ON THE SEA. YEAR 3 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
SEMESTER 2 PART 1 ARCHITECT
1:50 model of one bay of the accommodation and school, showing its materiality.
perspectival plan of three of the students rooms, looking at their structural form and inhabitation.
right.
left.
LIVING ON THE PERIPHERY
CLARE ISLAND CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING
Self Sustaining Rural Living
This group project was once again situated on Clare Island and was deeply focused on site, context, and local materiality. We spent weeks researching the island (its history, flora & fauna, geology, archaeology etc.) before carefully surveying and drawing the site and its environment. We were tasked with the design of a self sustaining community, dealing with many issues including using mainly local materials, food production, water treatment, and energy. My groups project looked at an evolution plan for the settlement, starting small with a few residents and structures and, over time, growing it’s infrastructure and population. We looked at building techniques such as rammed earth and gabion walls to design structures that could be constructed by relatively low skilled labourers.
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14 LIVING IN THE PERIPHERY. YEAR 3 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
site plan showing the settlements access, density and proximity to the sea.
spacial drawing of the courtyard which shelters the inhabitants from the harsh conditions.
a section of the groups chosen site, overlaid with medieval wall paintings found in the abbey.
above.
right.
below.
15 CLARE ISLAND CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING. SEMESTER 1 PART 1 ARCHITECT
16 LIVING IN THE PERIPHERY. YEAR 3 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
left.
view of the settlement in its context at the western tip of the Island, looking out at Inishturk.
above.
a plan and section of the settlement, showing the rough topography of the site .
below.
an axo of the settlement which shows a mix of typology and materialty, highlighting its evolution.
17 CLARE ISLAND CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING. SEMESTER 1 PART 1 ARCHITECT
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THE VAN LIFE
CAMPER VAN BUILD
Turning a Van into a Camper
Over the course of a year, myself and my girlfriend renovated a Nissan NV200 van into a camper van. We designed and built all of its components, which included insulating and cladding the floor, ceilings, and walls. We used mainly scrap wood found in a shed to build the furnishing, i.e. an extendable bed/ couch with a sliding drawer underneath for cooking and storage. This build taught me the importance of careful planning and of being exact to the millimeter when it comes to designing for a real build.
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Component Catalogue - Furniture
Shelving Unit/ Desk/ Water Storage
The shelving unit, with a drop down table and water storage, had to be built to fit the tight constraints and particular geometries of the interior of the van. A lot of trial and error, cutting and re-cutting was done for it to fit precisely.
Bed/ Couch/ Storage
The bed, which retracts into a couch and contains a large drawer for cooking and storage was the most challenging part of the build, but also the most rewarding. It thought us the importance of detailed measurements ahead and precise cuts.
The small storage unit was built to act both as additional storage and also as structure for the bed which slides out onto it.
20 THE VAN LIFE 2022BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
Storage Unit X3 X3 X30 X2 X62 X18 X4 X2 X2 X2 X9 X3 X26 X2 X2
Component Catalogue - Surfaces
Floor
9mm plywood
Ceiling
9mm plywood
8mm cork
Walls/ Curtains
21 CAMPER VAN REFURBISHMENT. 2023 PART 1 ARCHITECT
8mm cork
4mmX4mmX 4m timber
8mm linoleum
Polyester Felt 10m\2
Aluminium insulation foil 2m\2
Aluminium insulation foil 4m\2
Polyester insulation 2m\2
Polyester insulation 4m\2
Cotton fabric X2
22 THE VAN LIFE 2022BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
working with cardboard prototypes to decide form and size .
Series of images showing the evolution of the van over a year.
right. above.
testing and measuring as we build, attempting to use the materials at hand as efficiently as possible.
above. above. above.
23 CAMPER VAN REFURBISHMENT. 2023 PART 1 ARCHITECT
process images of the different element, working out dimensions by building .
the van finished, with the different furnishing working together as a whole.
A BATH IN THE CITY GPO PUBLIC BATHHOUSE
Swimming in a Historic Monument
The GPO bathhouse project looked at the future of one of Ireland’s most recognisable buildings after the news of the impending departure of An Post from the building. My design proposed the removal of a large floor area on the Prince’s Street wing of the GPO, leaving the skeletal structure of concrete beams and columns and allowing for a tiered congregation of public baths. I focused on the creation of a catered route through the proposal, entering from the arcade and into the dressing rooms below before taking a lift to the top floor and then descending down through the different baths back to the changing room.
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26 A BATH IN THE CITY. YEAR 2 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
short section of the of the project, showing the different levels.
right.
27 GPO PUBLIC BATHHOUSE. SEMESTER 2 PART 1 ARCHITECT
1:100 model of the structure of my proposal, showing the tiered baths and different floor plates .
above.
above.
a partial sectional perspective which looks at the water as it decends through the pools with the users, starting from hot and cooling as moves downwards.
28 A BATH IN THE CITY. YEAR 2 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
29 GPO PUBLIC BATHHOUSE. SEMESTER 2 PART 1 ARCHITECT
OTHER WORK DETAILS & EXPERIENCE
UCD Old Bar Re-furb.
This project looked at the addition of two lecture halls on top of the old UCD bar building beside the restaurant. I proposed a timber framed structure with a saw-tooth roof that would be clad in the same brick as the original ground floor.
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zinc roof panel 0.7mm
moisture barrier 6mm
fibre wool insulation 250mm
perforated brick cladding 150mm
raked mortar joint 10mm
100X200mm timbers battens
vapor barrier 10mm
void 50mm
breather membrane 6mm
timber cladding 25mm
stainless steel lintel 10mm
timber to recess blind 50mm
velfac sliding window 54mm
timber structural beam 200mm
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I spent five months at MGNÉ Architects in Dublin, a mid-sized design practice that works primarily on schools. I worked on many different projects including planning permissions, tender packages and on the initial design stages.
I worked on many physical models during my time with MGNÉ. Two examples at different scales are shown here.
32 WORK EXPERIENCE 2023BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
A site at 1:1000 model of a proposed school in Cork in the South West of Ireland.
above.
33 MGNÉ ARCHITECTS. 2024 PART 1 ARCHITECT
A site at 1:100 model of a proposed extension to a semi-detached in North Dublin City.
above.
34 WORK EXPERIENCE 2023BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
A collage of a proposed school extension in the North side of Dublin City.
above.
35 MGNÉ ARCHITECTS. 2024 PART 1 ARCHITECT
The same school from the opposite direction, highlighting the extensions materiality and spatial quality.
above.
These drawings show a sample of work I undertook for Scott Tallon Walker Architects.
The image below shows a proposed scheme in Cherrywood. The drawing shows the proposed office building in its context, with connections to the Luas line and greenway.
The drawings opposite are from a planning application I worked on for an apartment scheme also in Cherrywood.
36 WORK EXPERIENCE 2022 BRIAN Ó CURNÁIN
37 SCOTT TALLON WALKER. 2022 PART 1 ARCHITECT