Architect de Paor brings new angle to Irish Aid

Angled ceilings and walls with gaps above and below make up the inventive new Irish Aid building.

The civil service has never looked like this before but it is all about engaging the public who can come to this building at the top of O'Connell Street and learn about how Ireland is contributing to aid programmes across the world, and how to volunteer, both at home and abroad. This will be a fantastic place for children to visit: if society is to get to grips with dynamic design people need to appreciate unconventional spaces from a young age, and this building is wild and exciting. "The space envelopes and surrounds you," says architect Tom de Paor, and with those white triangular ceilings plunging downwards, you feel as if you are being enveloped by actual envelopes.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times