A family home on the North Coast that makes the most of the breath taking vistas along Portstewart Strand and beyond to the Donegal Hills.

The palette of materials and finishes used make for a stylish, high quality and comfortable home.

Garden landscaping complements the house very well across the site and provides spaces to enjoy throughout the day as the sun sweeps West over The Strand.

Interior decoration and finishing touches elevate some of the more modest spaces such as the bathrooms above their mere function to a higher level of design, adding to the overall experience of the house as a whole.

Interiors & soft furnishings: Yvette Boyd Design

Photo credit: Valiantfotography

Overlooking West Strand Beach, Portrush this replacement dwelling makes a sophisticated statement of design quality, nestled subtly in its established neighbourhood.

External finishes including areas of knapped flint make a robust and attractive statement and are a neat reference to locality with the Whiterocks Beach to the East of the peninsula town.

Living-kitchen-dining spaces open onto terraces positioned around the plan to take advantage of the views and the ever-changing light - Whether an evening sunset or a raging sea storm, all aspects of coastal living are framed.

The finishes and detailing throughout the house really elevate it above the ordinary - The sweeping hand carved staircase and limestone floors are a typical example of this, adding layers of richness and interest to the spaces themselves.

Other features adding to the character of the building include curved glulam beams in the barrel vaulted kitchen-living room, which is expressed in the external appearance of the building.

A lift is incorporated to consider mobility and future-proofing of the building, and a secondary kitchen allows for visitors to have a level of independence as they wish.

6 luxurious bedrooms take advantage of the sweeping views across the West Bay and tucked into the plan on the lower level is an entertainment area including home cinema, games room and gym.

More details on Blackrock Beach House and potential rental opportunities can be found by following the link: www.blackrockbeachhouseportrush.com

Overlooking Portballintrae harbour, the site benefits from fantastic views across the bay. A sheltered porch draws you into a welcoming entrance that leads into a hallway that stretches vertically. The eye is drawn up the sweeping staircase towards open living accommodation at first floor.

Spaces throughout the house have been completed with a great level of craftsmanship, creating an ambience of richness and quality.

The Montagu is a luxury development mixing the traditional features of Portstewart Promenade with all the ingenuity, aesthetics and efficiency of modern design and build techniques on a compact site.

The development occupies the site of the former Montagu Hotel at the heart of Portstewart on the Promenade. It comprises 18 apartments and 4 penthouses of generous proportions all with stunning West facing views over Portstewart Bay and the Donegal headlands.

Using clever positioning and site organisation, natural light is drawn through the core of the plan. Parking is accommodated using a car lift accessed from the rear of the site to enable a compact stacking arrangement to facilitate all units and take pressure off local street infrastructure.

In a densely populated area of Portstewart, the design for a replacement dwelling presented unique challenges; primarily building from the back of the site out towards to the road within very confined working space.

The project emphasises maximizing space while integrating with the existing environment, in terms of space, mass and aesthetics of the existing street-scape.

Key features include customised spaces, designed to accommodate the users wants and needs for day-to-day living.

The layout has an open floor plan that invites natural light, and strategically placed windows and skylights to connect with the outdoors.

A stunning house on the Causeway Coast overlooking the golden sands of Portstewart Strand beach. The detailing of every room is considered and executed to the highest standard to create a rich layering of character and style.

This renovation is positioned in a prominent position in Portstewart with unobstructed views to the Atlantic Ocean just a short distance from the front door.

The project involved extensive renovation and alterations to an existing dwelling on a confined site. The building plan was inverted to provide spacious living accommodation on the upper level to maximise views - high performance materials were integrated into the scheme to achieve excellent thermal and build performance.

This new family home in Portballintrae replaces a small, one and a half storey house on an awkward corner site, with the usual challenge of exposure to the elements on the dramatic north Antrim coastline and the unusual challenge of a prominent village location.

A combination of challenging factors influenced the design process - the geometry of the site, its orientation, its open aspect at the junction of two roads and the space requirements not only for a good-sized family home, but for a private play space, cars and a boat.

The upper level cantilevers over the parking area and garden at key points; a necessity of the tight site and need for space on the first floor which creates a dramatic effect, with strong definition of form.

The restricted palette of materials further enhances this form, using larch cladding for the visually lighter, cantilevered elements. The larch will steadily weather down to a maintenance free, silver/grey state.

Located at foot of the beautiful Inishowen Peninsula, this rural dwelling has double aspect views across the rolling landscape, Fahan and Lough Swilly.

A simple palette of materials is used including green oak and burnt larch within vernacular proportions. The plan form of the building maximises daylight and available views.

Old and new combine to form a home suitable for modern living.

The house celebrates all that is good with architectural conservation; retaining and restoring the listed cottage and extending the habitable footprint of the home using a contemporary block of accommodation that marries form and mass in an interesting combination, allowing new and old to stand equally on the site.

The listed stone cottage now stands proudly beside a contemporary structure encompassing zinc barrel roof, high performance external wall insulation and render system, expansive frame-less glazing and the comfort of underfloor heating.

This house which overlooks the beautiful Portstewart Strand makes reference to traditional coastal buildings, achieved in a contemporary manor using high performance shipboard cladding, steeply pitched roof profiles.

Clever massing of the site was developed during the planning process to include a private courtyard positioned in the heart of the home allowing light into the main accommodation

The colour palette is muted allowing the building to sit with quiet confidence within the streetscape.

Located on a prominent position in Portstewart with unobstructed views to the Atlantic Ocean , this replacement dwelling was completed to suit the owner’s specific brief.

The close proximity to a busy road, created the opportunity for an enclosed courtyard with usable outdoor space. Living accommodation is positioned on the upper level to maximise sea views and privacy.

High performance materials are integrated throughout to achieve excellent thermal and build performance in this exposed coastal location.

Positioned on a prominent site in close proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage Site at The Giant’s Causeway. The split level accommodation makes the most of the surrounding landscape, within a designated ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ (AONB), with panoramic views from all corners of the house.

The exposed location of the dwelling is balanced by the use of high quality glazing systems, insulation and air tightness - all of which combine to create an extremely comfortable home.

This is a large family home on a greenfield site in the Karen District of Nairobi.

The form of the house was developed to provide an enclosed, sunlit terrace with spectacular views of the nearby Ngong Hills.

The design subtly includes numerous security features essential to the unique residential environment in this part of Africa.

This new build house is positioned alongside the Ballinderry River, within a designated ‘Local Landscape Policy Area’.

The cantilevered design was developed to create a specific view of the riverside that was treasured by the client.

The form of the house and detailed design also had to account for poor ground conditions, retained trees, ‘protected’ tree roots and the impact of potential flooding.

The dwelling maximises solar gain, with large areas of glazing whilst making the most of the unique riverside aspect of the site.

This sizeable renovation and extension project was developed to provide contemporary kitchen, living, dining accommodation and to remodel the existing building envelope in the prime residential area of Cultra.

The house was successfully integrated into an established residential area by developing an extensive back garden with easy access to Portstewart’s ‘Convent Walk’.

This project required the resolution of extensive planning negotiations resulted in the coherent redevelopment of a prime residential site.

The house makes the most of the stunning views across Portstewart Strand, towards Mussenden Temple and beyond to the Donegal hills, with living accommodation positioned on the upper floor of the split level home.

The rural dwelling involved the retention and renovation of a small labourers cottage with the addition of modern living accommodation in a respectful manner.

Issues of integration and design were discussed in detail and resolved through close consultation with the local planning authority and ‘Historic Environment Division’.

The successful outcome is featured as an exemplar of good practice within the Department of Environment publication, “Building on Tradition”.

This replacement dwelling is located in the countryside surrounding Magherafelt.

The dwelling was designed to create accessible, high quality living accommodation. The contemporary design creates a spacious interior that is flooded with light and enjoys expansive views of the surrounding countryside.

The extensive use of renewable technologies such as photo voltaic cells, air source heat pump, MEVHR and underfloor heating add to the super insulated and super airtight building shell to achieve a truly comfortable, low energy home.

The design of this replacement dwelling is all about integration into an outstanding rural environment.

Elements of scale, roof pitch, gable depth, finish and ‘solid to void’ ratio are employed to produce a contemporary family home that makes a positive contribution to the built heritage of the Glenns of Antrim.

This replacement dwelling is located on a mature site of the outskirts of Bushmills.

The layout and form of the dwelling were derived to meet the functional requirements of the client. This integrates small scale day-to-day use with wider requirements for large scale family gatherings.

The renovation works and bespoke kitchen design combined a number of existing small spaces to provide a more open kitchen-dining space that leads out to the back garden successfully, connecting the house from front to back.

This replacement dwelling nestles comfortably into the Portstewart streetscape, with panoramic views to the Atlantic Ocean, achieved by positioning the living accommodation on the upper level of the house.

The private rear courtyard is animated by a curved wall wrapping around the stairs, which is perforated with pockets of coloured glass. Internally soft shades of colour spills into the open hallway providing added interest to this area of the home.

This restored cottage is situated within ‘The Distinctive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site’, which is just a stone’s throw from the UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Giant’s Causeway.

Small in scale, big in character - a fine example of a traditional vernacular architecture on the Causeway Coast.