Brennan Furlong Architects Dublin

IAF Open House Event – House by the Sea
2025-10-19 10:00 - 13:30 (Europe/Dublin) | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
“House by the Sea” in Sutton was built in the mid-20th century in the garden of an 1850’s seaside villa. Designed as a house for himself and his family by the Chief Schools Architect with the OPW, Basil Boyd-Barrett, our clients approached us to re-work the house as a comfortable family home that takes advantage of its location and spectacular views.
The tour will commence in the front garden and from there proceed indoors and up a new staircase to the first floor, where the flipped approach of our design has created a large open-plan kitchen / living / dining space. A ribbon-like mezzanine floats above this space, hugging the underside of the exposed glu-lam roof structure.
From here the tour will lead visitors out onto the restored balcony which runs the length of the front façade and connects to the elevated terrace located on the roof of the garage, as per Boyd Barrett’s original sketches. From here a new external staircase leads back down to the re-landscaped gardens where the tour concludes.
Pre-Book Only

IAF Open House Event - Moat Lane
2025-10-18 10:00 - 13:30 | Moat Lane, Moat Ln, Clontarf East, Dublin, Ireland
Built on a budget as her new home in the garden of our clients’ childhood home, Moat Lane responds to emotional attachments, tricky site geometries, pre-established neighbouring privacies and pre-existing surrounding urban materiality – the calp stone and red brick of 19th century boundaries and the profiled metal hulks of 20th century car-repair garages.

Meeting point: Front Gate of 1a Moat Lane, Clontarf. Look out for Open House Dublin Volunteers who will manage queues and entry for the tours.

Pre-Book Only

Accessibility Information
Wheelchair accessible
Accessible Toilets
Assistance Dogs welcome

The building is a new house, so is fully Part M compliant with level access and an accessible toilet. The landscaping to the site may not be complete, so external ground surfaces may be uneven and the tour may provide opportunity to view the first floor level, accessible via stairs only.
The building is located on a mews lane which is roughly surfaced in parts.

Tours begin at 10:00AM, with last tour at 1:30PM

Tours every 30 minutes – Tour last 30 minutes

IAF Open Studios: Brennan Furlong
2025-10-16 17:00 - 20:00 | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
Join us at our studio in Clontarf where we will be showcasing our domestic and urban infill projects, our examination of ideas around improving the public realm around the junction of Vernon Avenue and the Clontarf Promenade and our work in Howth, currently on display as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition in Venice. Please drop in any time between 5pm and 8pm for a tour of our workspace, take a look at our projects, models and sketches and have a chat with our team.
Other studios taking place on Thursday 16th October:

BDP (Building Design Partnership)

This is an Open Studios visit between 5 & 8pm. When booking we ask that you let us know what time you think you will drop in so that we can monitor the number of expected visitors. There may be a short wait to enter on arrival depending on how many people are visiting so please be patient with our volunteers. It’s worth the wait!

IAF Open House Event - Four Winds
2024-10-12 11:00 - 14:00 | Four Winds, four winds, stand road, sutton, dublin, dublin 13
We are delighted to announce that our Four Winds project has been selected to feature in this year’s Open House Dublin festival, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.

The project involves the sensitive reworking of a 1940s bungalow in Sutton, a coastal setting that enjoys expansive south-facing views across Dublin Bay. Designed to accommodate the third and fourth generations of the same family, the project explores how a single dwelling can evolve to support multi-generational living while remaining rooted in its place and history.

The architectural language draws inspiration from significant local landmarks, including the nearby Martello Tower, St Fintan’s Church by Andy Devane, and the 13th-century Chapel of Mone in Kilbarrack. These references informed both material choices and spatial forms, grounding the project firmly within its wider cultural and historical context.

Visitors will be invited to explore how the existing structure was carefully adapted to enhance connection to landscape, light, and views, while creating a series of contemporary living spaces that respond to the needs of an extended family. The tour will highlight how the project balances continuity and change, allowing the house to be reimagined without losing its identity.

IAF Open House Event - North Circular Road
2024-10-12 10:00 - 13:30 | North Circular Road, 277 North Circular Road, Dublin, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our North Circular Road project has been selected to feature in this year’s Open House Dublin festival, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.
Completed in 1882 and originally known as 17 Charleville Terrace, this significant red-brick dwelling has been reimagined from a multi-unit building back into a single family home—specifically designed to support trigenerational living.
The tour will invite visitors to explore how a process of careful adaptation and conservation can breathe new life into Victorian architecture. The design approach involved peeling back years of later interventions to reveal the building’s original bones, while simultaneously introducing modern connections in space and light.
Visitors will experience the unique vertical relationship between the main living areas at the entrance level and the lower ground floor, seeing firsthand how these spaces have been opened up to support modern family life while strictly preserving the spatial qualities and intricate architectural details of the original 1880s rooms.
This showcase offers a rare opportunity to see how historic conservation can successfully merge with the contemporary demands of a multi-generational family home.
Pre-Book Only

IAF Open House Dublin – Glentora
2023-10-07 10:00 - 13:30 | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our Glentora project has been selected to feature in Open House Dublin, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.
Glentora is a new house in Howth, Co. Dublin, built on the site of a former tram cottage. The design responds closely to its setting, with the form and organisation of the new dwelling echoing those of the original house, and materials carefully selected to allow the building to settle naturally into its context.
Visitors will have the opportunity to explore how the house is structured through a series of volumes that step and fold into the landscape. A tower-like element formed in Howth stone captures long views along the eastern coast towards the Mourne Mountains, while to the rear, terraces and courtyards establish a close relationship between interior spaces and the surrounding site.
The tour offers insight into an approach that balances continuity and change — retaining a connection to the site’s history while introducing a contemporary architectural language shaped by landscape, materiality, and long views.
This Open House Dublin event provides a rare opportunity to experience a new dwelling that carefully negotiates its place within a historic coastal setting, demonstrating how new architecture can emerge from the traces and patterns of what came before.

Open House Dublin – House for a Sea-Swimmer
2022-10-09 10:00 - 13:30 | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our House for a Sea-Swimmer project has been selected to feature in Open House Dublin 2022, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.
The project involves the re-working of a coastal semi-detached house in Clontarf, overlooking Bull Island and Dublin Bay. The brief emerged from a client whose passion for sea-swimming is central to the project, with the house conceived as both a place of retreat and a social home closely connected to its remarkable coastal setting.
Visitors will be invited to explore how the design responds to its exposed coastal context, balancing openness towards long views across Dublin Bay with a sense of shelter and enclosure. Located opposite the Wooden Bridge, the house is designed to support everyday living while also serving as a welcoming post-swim gathering place for friends and family.
The tour offers insight into how careful reorganisation and targeted interventions can transform an existing house to better engage with landscape, climate, and patterns of use, while retaining a strong sense of place.
This Open House Dublin event provides an opportunity to experience how a domestic project can be shaped by personal ritual and location, demonstrating how architecture can support both daily life and moments of communal connection.

IAF Open House Dublin – Placencia
2021-10-09 10:30 - 13:30 | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our Placencia project has been selected to feature in Open House Dublin, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.
Placencia involves the reorganisation and extension of a suburban dwelling on an infill site in Killester, Dublin 5. The project is conceived as a descending series of terraces that follow the contours of the site, responding directly to its changing levels and surroundings.
To the front, the house addresses a green area that contains the only remaining Legion Hall in Ireland, while to the rear, the house and garden step down to overlook the Dublin–Belfast railway line. This sectional approach allows the house to negotiate multiple contexts while maintaining strong internal and external connections.
Visitors will be invited to explore how the stepped organisation of the house creates a sequence of light-filled spaces that open gradually to the landscape. The tour offers insight into how careful planning and spatial reconfiguration can unlock the potential of a constrained suburban site, creating a family home that is both generous and closely tied to its setting.
This Open House Dublin event provides an opportunity to experience how a contemporary domestic intervention can be shaped by site conditions, topography, and context, demonstrating a thoughtful approach to suburban infill development.

IAF Open House Dublin – Northland Grove
2020-10-11 12:00 - 15:00 | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our Northland Grove project has been selected to feature in Open House Dublin 2020, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.
Northland Grove involves the renovation and extension of a detached two-storey dwelling in Glasnevin, Dublin 11, originally designed and built in the early 1960s by our client’s parents. Set on a corner site with established boundary hedging, the project is shaped by a strong desire to retain the essence and character of the original family home.
The design approach focuses on sensitive interventions to the existing fabric, enhancing thermal comfort while creating spatial generosity and improving connections to the external private spaces on all sides of the house. These measures support family life while preserving the qualities that defined the original dwelling.
Visitors will be invited to explore how careful reorganisation and selective intervention can extend the life of a mid-century suburban house, improving performance and usability without erasing its identity.
This Open House Dublin event offers an opportunity to experience a project that demonstrates how modest, well-considered architectural changes can transform an existing family home while respecting its history and setting.

IAF Open House Dublin – Serpentine
2020-10-10 11:30 - 14:30 | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our Serpentine project has been selected to feature in Open House Dublin 2020, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.
Serpentine involves the renovation and extension of a mid-20th-century suburban dwelling in Sandymount, Dublin 4. The project reimagines the existing house to create a light-filled family home through a carefully considered sequence of spaces.
A series of brick piers, beginning at the original door jamb, guide visitors through the house, past flexibly arranged social spaces and onwards to the re-landscaped rear garden. This spatial progression establishes a clear sense of movement and orientation, while reinforcing connections between interior and exterior.
Visitors will be invited to explore how the project balances openness and structure, using material rhythm and spatial sequencing to bring clarity and light into the home. The tour offers insight into how a suburban house can be adapted through modest but deliberate interventions to support contemporary family life.
This Open House Dublin event provides an opportunity to experience a domestic project that demonstrates how thoughtful renovation and extension can transform an existing dwelling while retaining a strong sense of coherence and character.

Open House Dublin – Strand Road
2018-10-13 09:30 - 12:30 | Brennan Furlong, Vernon House, 2 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf,, Dublin, Dublin 3, D03 P6D0, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our Strand Road project has been selected to feature in Open House Dublin 2018, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation.
Strand Road involves the extension and renovation of a house in Sutton, Dublin 13, created behind a retained 18th-century stone façade. The project carefully negotiates the relationship between the historic structure and new architectural interventions, establishing continuity between old and new elements.
The long, narrow, and irregularly shaped site, combined with its east–west orientation, informs a snaking plan form that moves through the house and terminates in a garden room. Two courtyards and an open front-to-back kitchen and living space create a sequence of interconnected internal and external spaces, while a glazed gallery overlooking the main living areas serves the first-floor bedrooms.
Visitors will be invited to explore how salvaged brick and stone from the original structure are reused within the new construction, reinforcing a material connection to the history of the site while supporting a contemporary domestic layout.
This Open House Dublin event offers an opportunity to experience how a sensitive architectural approach can transform an existing building, balancing conservation, adaptation, and modern family living within a constrained urban site.

Bord Bia Bloom in the Park – Space to Collaborate
2017-06-01 09:00 - 2017-10-04 18:00 | Bloom – Phoenix Park, Dublin, Phoenix Park Visitor Centre, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
We are delighted to announce that our garden project, Space to Collaborate, is on exhibition at Bloom in the Park 2017.
Space to Collaborate is an urban garden located adjacent to the home or workspace of a maker. Conceived as a creative sanctuary, the garden focuses on its inhabitants and the interactions fostered through collaboration. The built structure represents home, alongside the authentic connections and personal bonds that develop through shared creative endeavour.
Visitors are invited to explore a series of spaces designed to support both social interaction and individual making. Seating areas offer relaxed places to gather, share experiences, and exchange ideas, while overhead structures express the fluid crossover between work life and social connection.
A dedicated corner workspace provides an opportunity for concepts to become material objects. This creative process mirrors the life cycle of the garden’s planting, with growth, change, and renewal forming a central theme of the installation.
This exhibition at Bloom in the Park offers an opportunity to experience how landscape, architecture, and making can intersect, demonstrating the potential of small-scale urban gardens to support creativity, collaboration, and community.
Design: Séamus Furlong & Tricia Harris, with the Chocolate Factory Collective
Construction: Derek Devine, Devine Building Services Ltd
Landscape Gardening: Eoin Gibbons,
Everything you need to know about Bloom 2017
