O'Donnell +Tuomey Architects are based in Dublin, Ireland. They have been involved with urban design, educational and cultural buildings, houses and housing projects in Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands. They have represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale. Both Sheila O'Donnell and John Tuomey teach at University College Dublin and lecture internationally. Their work is characterised by the responsiveness of its form to the site, its expression of a sense of that place, and a materiality that emphasises the shell of the building. The ambiguity of a shell - it could be either an unfinished or a ruined building - communicates what the building is now and also suggests what it could be in the future. This expresses the process of architectural design itself, where an idea is always restless and will continue to evolve until the architect must fix it into form.


O'Donnell + Tuomey's considered architectural response to place is not dependent on the inspirational quality of every site that they work with; it is a consequence of their ability to see poetry around them.

Language and literature are not just sources of inspiration, they are also practical design tools. Before the direction of an architectural idea has been established or architectural form generated, words are used to collaborate within the office and with clients. Sketching, modelling and even physical gesture are treated in the speculative and flexible manner of a conversation: quick, explorative watercolour paintings; palm-sized, tiny sketch models; sketches on overlay paper passed between and drawn by many hands. Drawing is an act of design and exploration rather than a means of recording decisions made.

This openness to ideas, and testing them for their effectiveness, encourages creative reverie and inspiration. At certain points it provides an escape from the complexities and practicalities of the design problem at hand. The movement between reflection and action is particularly fluid during the initial ideas stage of a project. As John Tuomey says, 'I came across this term that Hans Arp, the Bauhaus artist used about his work: he called it his 'concretions', which I found a very satisfying terminology for a concept. A concretion: the making evident, the making substantial of something in form. Just as concrete cures and settles, it becomes hardened. I think concepts also pass through that same stage before they are made concrete.'

If an architect's mind is sufficiently nourished, by literature for example, their work will thrive and the richness of their ideas will be communicated to those who inhabit their buildings.

(Jane Anderson, Interview summary)
Full interview available here