Finbarr O’Dempsey

Nomination

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Category

Young Architect of the Year

Company

Summary

Finbarr O’Dempsey, joined Page Park’s Glasgow office in 2018. His passion for architecture, sense of social responsibility, pedagogical disposition, thoroughness, and eye for detail make him a fantastic project architect. This was evident at his work at Campus Central for the University of Stirling. The project demonstrates the client’s commitment to delivering an exceptional student experience, including new study and learning spaces, alongside enhanced student support facilities. The 6,000 sqm re-development project is located at the heart of the University Campus and consists of three main elements. The building forms a new gateway to the campus. The 3,000 sqm atrium offers a much-improved retail and catering experience to better serve the University’s diverse, global community of staff, students and visitors. Additionally, the extension provides a vibrant learning environment, with collaborative research spaces interspersed with the Student Service Hub, Institute for Advanced Studies and a welcoming new box office to the Macrobert Arts Centre. Furthermore, externally the project has transformed Queen’s Court from a bus terminus and roundabout, into a fully pedestrianised courtyard garden at the heart of the campus. The refurbishment of the atrium, study area and retail concourse provided an opportunity to re-imagine the incoherent existing spaces, utilising the inherent flexibility of the original 1970s steel framed structure to create a more legible and comfortable environment. This connects seamlessly with the new extension. The triangular geometry of the new extension is a pragmatic response to the site’s constraints. The resultant footprint and section make the most of the remaining wedge shape, whilst working with the existing levels, tucking under the University Library’s flipped ziggurat form at the lower two storeys, and cantilevering out at the top storey to maximise the usable floor area. Fin joined the project team as a supporting architect at stage 3 and took on a leading role at stage 4 onwards as project architect, carrying it through to completion. The project has won numerous awards including Best Education Building at the Scottish Design Awards, Architectural Excellence Award (Public Use) and Refurbishment of the Year Award at the Scottish Property Awards, Scotland's RICS Awards National winner and it is one of the 13 projects shortlisted for the RIAS 2023. The awards are testament to Fin’s ability to develop detail within design, to collaborate with other designers, contractor and subcontractors, and fundimentally create excellent spaces for the end user.

Reason for nomination

Finbarr O’Dempsey, joined Page Park’s Glasgow office in 2018. He studied architecture at the University of Cambridge and London Metropolitan University, graduating with First-Class Honours and Distinction. Since joining the practice, Fin has had tremendous impact in our practice’s architectural thinking, output and social fabric: His passion for architecture and learning has resulted on a revamped CPD program for the practice, that covers a broad range of topics appealing to the varied interests within our colleagues. His strong sense of social responsibility has been recognised by the rest of the practice, who selected him to be one of the two employees’ representatives in our Employee Own Trust, our governing body. His pedagogical disposition, developed at University of Cambridge where he tutored, makes him a great mentor and team leader to younger colleagues. His great design ability and empathetic approach makes him a very valuable member of our design review team, the practice’s mechanism to maintain excellent architectural outputs. Further to the above, his thoroughness and eye for detail makes him a fantastic project architect. This was evidenced by his exemplary work at Campus Central for the University of Stirling. Fin joined the project team as a support architect during stage 3, taking a leading role during stage 4 as project architect, carrying it through to completion. The project has won numerous awards including Best Education Building at the Scottish Design Awards. Architectural Excellence Award (Public Use) and Refurbishment of the Year Award at the Scottish Property Awards, Scotland's RICS Awards National winner and it is one of the 13 projects shortlisted for the RIAS 2023. These are testament to Fin’s ability to develop detail design, to collaborate with other designers, contractor and subcontractors creating a work environment where everybody can do their best work. Fin has always had a specific interest in creating spaces for visual arts, music and performance. Relevant experience includes the design and delivery of a HQ, gallery space and artists’ studios for charity Bow Arts and an international pop art exhibition for Tate Modern. He previously held a 4-year Open Space residency with Aldeburgh Music in collaboration with composer Freya Waley-Cohen, violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen and fellow designer Andrew Skulina. The residency resulted in a touring music installation, Permutations. This interest is now being explored further in his work for the restoration and refurbishment of Polwarth Kirk for the Marchmont Makers Foundations. The proposals seek to restore and upgrade the existing church fabric whilst reconfiguring the building, futureproofing it as a multi-purpose performance venue. Fin has been liaising with the client and the community and developing the proposals, and the commission has extended to incorporate some site sensitive support accommodation to serve the kirk in its new life as a flexible performance venue.