Gairmscoil na bPiarsach, Rosmuc
Gairmscoil na bPiarsach, Rosmuc.
This extension provides three standard 49 sqm classrooms for a small secondary school in Connemara. The new classrooms are built using traditional materials and presented as a separate building, which is set back from the line of the original school. This new building forms a sheltered courtyard at the heart of the school. The school was completed to a passive house standard within the restrictive Department of Education budget. The covered external circulation provides three shelters for students which the school had lacked. These new shelters are also an important social element for this rural school. These are sheltered places for students to wait before and after school on the many wet and windy days. They are a place sit and eat lunch during breaks, or for students and staff to have a quick chat between classes. A folding wall allows two of the classrooms to be joined to provide the school with its only assembly room, which also serves as a meeting room for the local rural community.
Photos by Ros Kavanagh.
