The house of renowned film director, Jim Sheridan, is to get an architectural Oscar at the RIAI’s (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) annual Irish Architecture Awards. The awards will be presented by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche TD, at a ceremony in Dublin City Council’s Civic Offices on Wednesday, 7 June next.

Each year, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) presents the Irish Architecture Awards in order to recognise excellence in contemporary Irish architecture. Jim Sheridan’s house, Martha’s Vineyard, which is located in Dalkey and was designed by architects de Blacam and Meagher, is one of 16 building projects which will receive awards.

In addition the Minister will present a number of special awards in the following categories: Best Accessible Project (sponsored by the Office of Public Works); Best Commercial Building; Best Public Building; Best Conservation / Restoration Project (sponsored by the Heritage Council); Best Sustainable Project (sponsored by the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government).

Highlighting the importance of well-designed buildings on our coastline, such as Martha’s Vineyard, – many of which provide the first impression that thousands of visitors form of our built environment – the panel adjudicating on the Awards said: "The elegant, simple design belies the complexity of the site, its constraints and the brief. Nearly more of a landscape / seascape than a building, the house integrates itself with the seashore."

Commenting on the design of Martha’s Vineyard, Jim Sheridan said that living in the house is like living in the sea describing it as being a combination between an ocean liner and a lighthouse.

"The limestone and granite of the house plays beautifully against the stone of the old Martello tower and one of the oldest churches in Ireland and those feelings of spirituality and protection surrounds the house. In the house you feel safe and excited by the ever changing and sometimes stormy sea. Outside the walkways are beautiful and by candle light as romantic as anything I have ever seen. The final piece de resistance is a beautiful rock pool which holds to the natural line of the sea and incorporates the old cement into a beautiful design."