We have converted the old cottage and boathouse and we have added an extension. An asymmetric, cruciform cloister links them. The new arrangement is built around a little courtyard. By placing the site out of the wind, the coastguards also put it out of the sun. It faces east-south-east and it looses the light early in the day. In Ireland, sunlight is precious stuff and we have designed the new extension to capture the last scraps of sun as it declines behind the hill in the early evening. The living space stretches out towards the water and away from the growing shadow of the hill. The form of the new living room is shaped to capture light. You discover the ocean through the house. The organisation of the building is based on a journey towards a view of the horizon. The driveway is screened from the sea and the entrance is a small courtyard. When you open the front door you see along a glazed passage towards a table, beyond which a window frames a view of a distant beach across the bay. As you walk towards the table, two new spaces open up. One is the main living space overlooking the sea. The other is the view out towards the open ocean to the south. By passing around the chimney you come to the edge of the land, where the whole panorama is brought together. In this way the house becomes the frame for an experience of the larger landscape. The architecture is understood by looking out from it. The old cottage has been turned into a master bedroom and the boathouse is for guest bedrooms. The kitchen, dining and sitting rooms are in the new extension. We have rebuilt part of the sea wall and provided steps down to the shore from the sheltered courtyard.