The Irish Times

The winning buildings in this year's Bank of Ireland Opus Architecture and Construction Awards tend to be light on their feet; they have a human scale, exude warmth through the use of timber, and have lots of natural light. Many of them use sustainable features: notably (and pleasingly) natural ventilation. The OPW has been careful to point out that the two award-winning buildings it designed have disabled access throughout, something that chairman of the judges, Ciaran O'Connor, OPW architect, said, last year, was missing from many of the winning schemes. More than 150 projects were submitted this year, with nine winning awards and a number of others being either "highly commended" or "commended". The Bank of Ireland Opus Awards don't have a set number of winners - they are given out on merit and vary year by year. "There was such a variety of work submitted, from house extensions to city scale projects," said O'Connor. "Small was not always beautiful. Big was not always brash. The best buildings displayed insight as well as intellect; and sensitivity as well as toughness in achieving their goals."