DMVF Architects has taken the Conservation Award for a Single Building or Development at the Building and Architect of the Year Awards 2026, earning recognition for a project that demonstrates what conservation practice looks like at its most disciplined, informed, and architecturally resolved.

Parnell Square presented the judges with a scheme defined by a meticulous and highly informed approach from the outset. The panel noted that detailed research underpins the entire project, informing every decision made in the restoration of the building's historic fabric and giving the intervention a credibility and authority that cannot be achieved without that depth of preparation. The judges described it as "a meticulous and highly informed approach to conservation, combining detailed research with precise execution," a verdict that speaks as much to the rigour of the process as to the quality of the finished result.

The relationship between the restored historic fabric and the contemporary addition is handled with equal care. Rather than allowing either element to dominate, DMVF Architects has achieved a clear and considered balance, one in which the new addition is restrained enough to defer to the existing building without disappearing into it. That quality of restraint is one of the hardest things to sustain in conservation architecture, where the temptation to overstate the contemporary element or over-restore the historic one can undermine the integrity of both.

What the judges ultimately recognised in Parnell Square is a controlled and well-judged intervention that reflects clarity, discipline, and a deep respect for the building's significance. In a category that demands all three in equal measure, DMVF Architects has delivered a scheme that sets the standard for how Ireland's historic built fabric should be treated. As the 2027 cycle opens, it poses a clear challenge to future conservation entries: bring the same depth of research, the same precision of execution, and the same architectural humility to the work.

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