Stepaside

This housing scheme was designed as a sequence of views from separate but linked open spaces descending from the crest of the hill after entry from Enniskerry Road. The entrance space consists of an undulating crescent of houses informally arranged with a large treed mound. The entrance road leads from the Enniskerry Road over the crest of the hill to the first public open space and provides framed views over the bay and also in a southerly direction down the small cul-de-sac roads to the right. The apartments are positioned on the steepest area of the site and are split level to deal with the extreme contours. They are arranged in semi-formal mews courts which are divided from the road by high traditional wall, entrance arch and with the mews building forming part of the wall. This device has many advantages, it provides an identifiable and coherent courtyard space on front of each apartment block, it provides a special and individual entrance to each block, and it assists in the transition of scale from the larger blocks to the traditional dwelling sizes surrounding.