Taylor McCarney Architects have won the RIAI Public Choice Award 2017 for the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance for the National University of Ireland Galway. This award is the most prestigious Irish Architectural award of the year and chosen by the public from a shortlist of 60 high quality national and international projects by Irish Architects.

The building, a simple industrial form, had seen many former uses in its 160 year lifespan, from linen mill to the manufacture of military shells in World War 1 and later copper pipe production.
Architecturally, we wished to acknowledge the various ‘layers’ of the building and looked to Carlo Scarpa’s Castelvecchio for inspiration.

The internal planning of the building has been arranged so that the geography of the space is instantly grasped whichever of the three entrances is used. The main facility, being the 120 seat auditorium, sits as a “building within a building” and takes the form of a two storey high drum. This new circular form utilises some careful positioning of mirrored surfaces, to allow the circular form to ‘float’ independent of the original fabric. The foyer space wraps around this.

Workshop and toilets are designed to be used by both the new school and also the existing Bank of Ireland Theatre, in this way either facility can remain open independently, late into the evening.

The idea of a building inside a building continues with the inner façade of a continual steel channel, aluminium window system and iroko panelling, set behind the existing stone façade and joining the existing fabric with extensive shadow gap detailing.