peter nickels architects

1970s house transformed into a Passive House

An existing two storey 1970's house with a flat roof was completely transformed by the addition of an additional storey on top to create a 275 sq.m (2,950 sq.ft), five bedroom family home. The whole house was refurbished to EnerPHit standard (the Passive House Institute standard for existing buildings), which is the highest standard of energy efficient construction. The shape of the roof creates a flat roof along the ridge, facing south, to ensure maximum efficiency of the roof mounted solar photovoltaic panels. 
The project was awarded the RIAI Architecture Award for Sustainability in 2022 and the NetZero Ireland Construction Award for Retrofit 2022.

portobello

A period redbrick terraced house was refurbished and re-configured so that it opened out to the rear garden. Although the floor area of the new kitchen extension was only small, the full height glazed screen walls open up so that the interior and the garden flow seamlessly together and give the appearance of a much larger space.

Victorian terraced house opened out into the garden

kilcock

This modest rural bungalow was completely transformed by adding a new open plan extension, comprising kitchen, dining and living areas, in a single, light filled space. The extension was designed to maximise sunlight throughout the day and views out to the surrounding landscape. The rest of the house was upgraded with new windows, external insulation and render, which updated the external appearance and made the home warm, comfortable and very energy efficient.

Rural bungalow extension and refurbishment

Castleknock

In this project, poorly planned and built 1980s extensions were demolished and replaced with new extensions to create a spacious and luxurious 295 sq.m (3,100 sq.ft) family home.
The original stepped floor levels were eliminated so that the whole ground floor flows together seamlessly, from the large open plan kitchen dining room to the extensive rear paved patio area. The kitchen is at the hub of the house, and is flooded with light from a huge rooflight above. The fabric of the existing building was upgraded throughout, together with new windows, airtightness measures, a whole house ventilation system and air to water heat pump.

Contemporary, spacious, light-filled family home

Spacious corner extension for a growing family

The owners of this 1970's house needed more space for their young family and to make their house warmer and more comfortable. The design solution was to demolish the existing garage at the side of the house and replace it with a new single storey extension, housing a large kitchen/ dining space, utility room and storage areas. The extension creates a "book-end" at the end of the row of houses, and was designed so that an extension at first floor level can be added in the future when required. The new kitchen is flooded with light from a large rooflight above and has views out through the large patio doors to the south west facing garden. A folding partition and sliding glazed internal doors allow lots of flexibility in the way the spaces are used and experienced at ground floor. 
The project also included an overall upgrade to the energy performance of the house. This work was split into phases - some of the upgrade works were carried out while the extension was being built, and some are still to follow in the future, when funds allow.

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Best of Houzz 2018 - Design

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Best of Houzz 2017 - Design

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Dublin based, award-winning, Passive House architects

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Project Highlight Video

I’ve always dreamed of having a clean, modernist home, and I’m happy to say that Alice and her team at Atelier Cohen led the way to making that dream a reality! I couldn’t be more happy with the project, my house looks like it could be featured in a magazine. I expressed my wishes of having a clean, natural interior aesthetic and they truly delivered – the natural light in my newly designed home is to die for. They also helped me turn my dated, drab living room into a spacious but cosy space. I couldn’t recommend Alice more, if you’re looking for easy collaboration and top-notch design, you have to reach out to them!

I’ve worked with Alice on a few renovation projects and am still floored by her dedication to design and space planning. Never have I experienced a hiccup or missed communication with Atelier Cohen, and home projects tend to create those sorts of problems! They are professional, approachable, and innovative in a way that anyone with any level of home renovating or staging experience will feel like they are in good hands.

Alice’s eye, advice, and service is extremely rare in this business. If you get the chance to work with them, don’t think twice about it!

I had the pleasure of working with Alice on redecorating my childhood home that hadn’t been touched up since I was a teen in the 80’s. I knew it needed a huge refresh aesthetically, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I had a consultation with Alice about my hazy ideas and she was able to understand my tastes and needs after just one chat! The whole design process was so streamlined and thorough that my fears of things going awry totally vanished after the first few meetings. She walked me through every step of the process, from sharing sketches and moodboards to purchasing the final pieces of furniture and decoration. Working with Alice at Atelier Cohen has got to be my greatest investment, I highly recommend their services.

I’ve always dreamed of having a clean, modern farmhouse kitchen, and I’m happy to say that Maison Kitchens and Bathrooms led the way to making that dream a reality! I couldn’t be more happy with the project, our kitchen looks like it could be the envy of Pinterest. I expressed my wishes of having a light, airy feel with natural but polished finishes, and they truly delivered – the kitchen in my home is to die for. They also helped me turn my claustrophobic galley kitchen into a beautiful open-space plan that makes me actually want to cook and entertain in the kitchen. I couldn’t recommend Maison K&B more, if you’re looking for easy collaboration and top-notch design, you have to reach out to them!

I’ve worked with Maison Kitchens and Bathrooms on a few renovation projects and am still floored by their dedication to design and construction. Never have I experienced a hiccup or missed communication with them, and home projects tend to create those sorts of problems! They are professional, approachable, and innovative in a way that anyone with any level of home renovating experience will feel like they are in good hands. Their advice and service through all stages of any project large or small is extremely rare in this business. If you get the chance to work with them, don’t think twice about it!

I had the pleasure of working with Maison Kitchens and Bathrooms on renovating my childhood home that hadn’t been touched up since it was built in the 50’s. I’m quite environmentally minded, so I knew the appliances and electrical elements needed an update. I also knew it needed a bit of a refresh aesthetically, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I had a consultation with them about my hazy ideas and they were able to understand my tastes and needs after just one chat! The whole renovation process was so streamlined and thorough that my fears of things going awry totally vanished after the first few weeks. Working with Maison Kitchens and Bathrooms has got to be my greatest investment, I highly recommend their services.

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I’ve always dreamed of having a clean, modernist home, and I’m happy to say that Haus Design + Build led the way to making that dream a reality! I couldn’t be more happy with the project, my house looks like it could be featured in an architect magazine. I expressed my wishes of having high ceilings and large windows, and they truly delivered – the natural light in my new home is to die for. They also helped me turn my claustrophobic galley kitchen into a beautiful open-space plan that makes me actually want to cook and entertain in the kitchen. I couldn’t recommend Haus DB more, if you’re looking for easy collaboration and top-notch design, you have to reach out to them!

I’ve worked with Haus Design and Build on a few renovation projects and am still floored by their dedication to design and construction. Never have I experienced a hiccup or missed communication with them, and home projects tend to create those sorts of problems! They are professional, approachable, and innovative in a way that anyone with any level of home renovating experience will feel like they are in good hands.

Their advice and service through all stages of any project large or small is extremely rare in this business. If you get the chance to work with them, don’t think twice about it!

I had the pleasure of working with Haus Design + Build on renovating my childhood home that hadn’t been touched up since it was built in the 50’s. I’m quite environmentally minded, so I knew the appliances and electrical elements needed an update. I also knew it needed a bit of a refresh aesthetically, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I had a consultation with them about my hazy ideas and they were able to understand my tastes and needs after just one chat! The whole construction process was so streamlined and thorough that my fears of things going awry totally vanished after the first few weeks. Working with Haus DB has got to be my greatest investment, I highly recommend their services.

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Dublin based, award-winning, Passive House architects

passionate about sustainability