Auditorium
Long section
Ground floor
First floor
Bantry Music Centre
A cultural heart for Bantry
Our international competition entry for Ireland’s first purpose-built chamber music venue outside Dublin aimed to create not just an excellent music venue but a series of linked public places, inside and outside, that celebrated the warm, informal and welcoming character of Bantry town.
Terraced landscape
Alongside creating a world-class home for music, arts and education, our proposals focused on the creation of an inspiring cultural square, that made the most of the level changes and the experience of moving water from the nearby mill wheel.
Celebrating rather than competing with the existing library, our plans tucked the new music building into the hillside, visually healing the cut in the landscape. Whist also neatly avoiding any impact on views of the library feature window and the neighbouring St Finbarr’s Church.
A venue of spaces
An intimately scaled, visually warm entrance space connected all spaces and levels, providing space to celebrate the cultural legacy of Bantry through exhibitions of local art and artefacts.
Inspired by the lush fountain gardens of Bantry House, and the stepping levels and natural stone retaining walls that sweep down from St Finbarr’s Church, we placed a secret garden of nature, light and greenery at the heart of the project.
The experience
The culmination of the journey was the surprising scale and appearance of the auditorium, which would provide enjoyment throughout the day, with a tall feature window framing uplifting views into the auditorium for all building visitors and users, reminiscent of the tranquil view of Bantry House Library from the hall.
This new cultural quarter was designed to foster artistic excellence and learning—to celebrate West Cork as a great place to live, work, learn and visit.
| Client | West Cork Music | ||
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| Location | Bantry, Ireland | ||
| Status | Competition | ||
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