Airborne on the Atlantic
Saol san Aer - translated ‘Life in the Air'
Status: Under Construction
The island of Ireland gave rise to a Golden Age of Flight, unmatched today for its sheer sense of elegance and romance. Saol san Aer is a wooden airframe inspired by the Golden Age of Aviation.
Foynes Airport on the Shannon Estuary was the place where flying boats first made transatlantic flights between America & Europe in the late 1930’s. Foynes was one of the biggest civilian airports during the second World War. Frequented by celebrities such as writer Ernest Hemingway, actor Humphrey Bogart, President to be John F Kennedy, and Irish film star Maureen O’Hara, who fell in love with and married one of the pilots, Captain Blair.
On the opposite side of the Shannon Estuary is Shannon town, a place in Ireland shaped by aviation. Overlooking the Shannon Estuary, Saol san Aer celebrates a Golden Age of Flight when the gorgeous Yankee Clipper (1939) graced the waters at nearby Foynes. The Lockheed Constellation (1943) and De Havilland Comet (1952), graced nearby Shannon Airport. Saol san Aer celebrates the joy of the wooden airframe, detail after detail, tracing a path to the beginnings of flight.
Saol san Aer enlarges an existing 1960’s property, accommodating a family of 3 generations, on a beautiful woodland site. This is about dreaming of what lies beyond the horizon, a Transatlantic Dream. This is what our clients Kevin & Teresa wish to wake up to for the rest of their lives.
Solas na Curaí - translated ‘Light of the Currach’​
Status: Under Construction​​
45% of the population of Ireland live within 5 kilometres of the sea. The ocean heals and makes us feel whole again. Solace & healing is never far away.
Solas na Curaí finds new pathways from tradition to the future - crafting a wood frame structure as pure as the currach boat in its natural setting - the Atlantic coast of Ireland.
Irish currach boat making is a joy to behold – a series of ribs made from oak or hazel curve in one direction, fastened together by longitudinal laths crossing in the other direction, to form a wooden airframe. Centuries ago, animal hide covered the frame, but in time hide was replaced with tarred canvas, giving the currach it’s signature black colour.
Currachs are propelled by arms pulling on oars, and occasionally by a small sail, when the winds are favourable. The cotton sail was soaked in a solution made from tree bark, giving the fabric a distinctive red rust colour.
Solas na Curaí rises from a site marked by an old stone barn, that sheltered cattle and gathered stories for 200 years. The old barn has a new companion to enclose the farmyard, as it once was, as visible on historical maps.
This is what our clients Michael & Anne Marie were craving for, in the next chapter of their lives. This is about People, Place & Belonging, along a Coast of Crafts.