Mayo architect’s Kylemore Abbey project nominated for prestigious award

Westport’s Michael Horan and his Axo Architects firm have been nominated for the prestigious RIAI Public Choice Award 2025. 

This award is voted for by the public and closes this coming Monday, June 16. 

There are two other Mayo entries in the category. There are the Mulranny - .WAY by Brock Finucane and Scoil Naomh Bríd Culleens in Ballina by SJK Architects.

Those interested in voting can do so here - https://www.riai.ie/public-choice-award-poll

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‘Ora et labora’ 

Managing Director at Axo architects, Michael Horan, told The Mayo News, that he and his team have ‘incredible respect for what went before us’ at Kylemore and were aware of the weight of designing the first building on the site in more than one hundred fifty years.

“We started manipulating the form of the building so that it steps up and down and there are breaks in the building so it’s very like the abbey.”

“”We tried to take the messages from the past and do something similar with our monastery. The turrets step up and down and step in and out, and there's a relief and a softness that way. It steps up and down in volume, and it steps in and out, and there are breaks in the building”

This creates the effect that you can still see the mountains behind when standing at any one particular point.

Natural brick with an almost identical colouring to the original abbey was chosen to harmonise with the Abbey on the other side of the lake and for its sustainability. 

The new abbey houses a retreat centre, education centre, offices and meeting rooms. At the core of the multimillion euro project was the desire to encompass “ora et labora” - the latin for ‘pray and work.’

This manifested itself in the colors and the spaces being understated and toned down.

Michael says the stand out moment of the project for him was former Abbess of Kylemore Abbey, Sr Máire Hickey OSB telling him that “I feel at home” in the new abbey. 

She passed away in the last number of months and the opening of the abbey for the realisation of a lifelong ambition of her. 

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“It's a little bit like the original Nokia phone versus the most modern iPhone”

“It's a little bit like the original Nokia phone versus the most modern iPhone”, Michael Horan explains how Irish architecture has just improved and become more sophisticated in the last 10 to 20 years.

This transformation has meant Ireland has caught up with the rest of Europe and makes the nomination so ‘satisfying’, as its recognition by your peers. 

The contribution that architecture makes to society is not lost on him. He views architecture as an important part of life because  “people live in architecture, they pray in architecture, they work in architecture, they get educated in architecture and they get better in hospitals, in architecture.

“So if you can make someone's life a little bit more enjoyable and have nicer light and nicer views and nicer buildings to live or work or sleep in, well then you're doing a better job. The better you can make the building, the more you're contributing to society.”