Building blocks of the future

David Craig and Niall Henry, co-founders of Dublin Design Studio are passionate about architecture, product design and how peoples’ lives can be transformed through good design. Together they have built their design firm since its establishment in 1999 and have grown a diverse client base and a strong reputation for quality and efficiency when it comes to complex builds.

They are as enthusiastic about design as they are about working for themselves. "An important aspect for us was the ability to choose the projects we wanted to work on because we’re interested in the creative side of architecture. You're in charge of your destiny, you have that creative flexibility and that's what we want,” Niall Henry says.

The designers are clearly driven and also inquisitive. “We are constantly asking ourselves what is the future home going to look like, how will buildings interact with a changing climate, how will peoples’ lives change and how will architecture adapt to their needs.”

Craig says that as designers they are always looking at what they can do now to make their designs future-ready. “When you're designing a house, you're looking towards the future. You have to look and see how you can maintain the environment you live in, and respond to the changing environment, both in terms of fuel costs, and possibly climate change as well.”

Henry agrees that while being future-first is all well-and-good, you need to have an idea of what the future will look like and how people will live in a number of years from now. “Essentially, we are trying to design something now that takes into account the client's needs and requirements over the next 30 to 40 years. That includes not just the use of the home in terms of flexibility and multi-functional rooms, but also in terms of sustainability, and running costs of homes.”

‘Lifetime’ housing is an area where the design duo don’t just talk-the-talk. “Designing a house now that is flexible and that takes on board what the future is going to throw at us is very exciting,” Henry explains. It's about designing a house that isn't the end of the sentence but rather the start of the sentence, and that's really important for us.”

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