Kevin Donovan assesses two recent buildings by Stephen Roe, winner of the Arts Council Kevin Kieran Award for architecture
Vernacular, if not quite a dirty word in the vocabulary of many young architects, is one which is not altogether untainted. Originally designating the native language of a region, we now associate the term with artefacts rooted in but often also confined within the past. Its suggestion of the local and indigenous supports for some an overtone of the burden of tradition, even an obligation to observe outmoded forms. There are, however, exceptions
