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About

PAC Studio is an architectural and environmental design practice founded in 2007 by Graham Petrie and Peter Crowley, a partnership formed after working together with Bucholz McEvoy Architects for 7 years.

Our approach is underpinned by good briefing – understanding our client requirements from the outset, whilst seeking out environmental design opportunities for the project. In developing a shared vision, we aim to integrate environmental sensibilities with architectural qualities in each project, adding value to our clients, the users of our projects, and to wider society.

Key to this is an integrated, collaborative design approach, recognising the important contribution that the design teams, contractors and craftspeople we work can add to our projects.

This is particularly important in merging innovative architectural responses with low energy-low carbon approaches to construction. Our clear development and presentation of the design ideas includes making physical models at a range of scales, in support of sketches, drawings and BIM modelling – all to ensure transparent communication of design at every stage.

Our design process and studio structure ensures that each project can develop as a unique and specific design solution, always seeking to surprise and add value for our clients, without compromise on programme, quality or economy. Designing beautifully simple solutions to seemingly complex problems or situations is what we do best.   

Architecture and Environments

Our integration of environmental design strategies with architectural design and spatial organisation is key to the quality of experience for those using our spaces. We achieve this by seeking to reduce energy consumption and improving comfort and wellbeing, through design strategies of natural ventilation, passive solar heating and good quality daylighting.

We enjoy maintaining relationships with our clients and buildings after completion and handover. Feedback from users, energy monitoring and post-occupancy research are aspects of the design process that we actively seek out to critically assess our own work – developing  and improving our design approach.

This has proven to be of benefit to our clients, with ongoing improvements and adaptation of existing buildings giving further economic and environmental value to each project over longer time cycles of refurbishment.

Clients and Feedback

Importantly for our clients, we employ a practice stucture that enables our directors to remain intimately involved in our projects at all stages.

We work for a range of clients in both private and public sectors, including the Office of Public Works, An Garda Siochána, the Health Service Executive, Approved Housing Bodies, Local Government Agencies and a wide variety of private commercial companies and clients.

Our commissions range from private residential to community and social housing, office/ workplaces, healthcare, industrial and retail projects. Our work is increasingly concerned with the refurbishment and re imagination of existing buildings and structures, breathing new life into existing environments.  We can deliver additional services, including conservation, environmental assessment, daylighting analysis, landscape and interior design services.  

Rigorous management through the design and construction stages is fundamental in our successful implementation of our approach, seeking to deliver a high level of design, detail and craftsmanship that exceed client expectations. This quality of design and construction is continuously balanced with agreed budgets and timescales for delivery.  

Our design approach has been recognised by the Royal Institute of Architects in  Ireland, with a Commendation for for Best Emerging Practice in 2012 and subsequently  PAC Studio was awarded for the Best Commercial Project of 2017 – a town centre food market and restaurant in Malahide, County Dublin. We were invited to exhibit our work in the Summer Show for the Royal Hibernian Academy in 2012, and our research work on the environmental performance of Local Authority Buildings in Ireland has been presented at a number of conferences and published in the UK by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Our projects and approach can be seen here: