The first time I sent a portfolio out to firms both O’Donnell + Tuomey and Grafton Architects were within the first five, probably the first three I sent. They’re two of the most interesting practices in Ireland and I was really excited at the prospect of visiting the two, directly beside each other.

Having visited Sir John Soane’s Museum beforehand and leaving my parents in a café in the park to avoid the rain, on a particularly grey and wet mid-July day, I ventured towards the first of the two buildings, Grafton’s Marshall Building. The rather imposing street-side of the building has a rather interesting, stone façade, broken by the vertical shading elements and you enter into a beautiful concrete ground floor café and ‘atrium’ centred on an incredible cast staircase, the highlight of the building. The simple palette and texture combined with the wooden elements on above lecture halls and breakout spaces feel wonderfully modern and sleek while also being quite tactical and comfortable. The concrete structure is incredible in both its scale and simple, beautiful forms.

From the buildings balconies and terraces you’re afforded glimpses and views of the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre directly opposite the building, centred on its own small square. The building is immediately recognisable as an O’Donnell + Tuomey project. The brick façade, hung on angular planes from another concrete structure, the red steel elements of benches, planting and supporting elements and the warm timber of the shading elements and frames all feel like quintessential ODT elements.

Entering the building you find a sequence of smaller spaces through to atriums, open floors, narrow staircases and landings looking through the stairs articulated form. The angular stepped path through the building, wrapping the lift core sites you on a number of different and interesting spaces which really feel like they’re in use, you can see the activities and work in the building in both the spaces and how people navigate it. The building captured all of my favourite elements from previous projects I’d visited, essentially the same ones I’ve outlined above.

Of the two I was definitely more excited to visit the student centre prior to going. With that in mind, the Marshall Building, the first Grafton structure I had actually entered blew me away. They’re two really unique and interesting structures and there’s a wonderful interplay between the two with both their surroundings and with each other.