The NICC project asked us to design a new Northern Irish Cultural Centre in the heart of Amsterdam. Part embassy and part exposition, the building required us to define what Northern Irish culture is, a particularly difficult thing to do given the state's troubled history.

My concept derived initially from the piles which lie underneath Amsterdam due to most of the city being built upon reclaimed land. My idea was to expose these piles, elevating a portion of the building. This would create a tension between the above and the below, two opposing forces linked together by, and reliant upon, these columns.

The Parti shows how there are essentially four main parts to the building. The public entrance and the artists village enclose an exhibition space on the ground floor. The main performance/exhibition space floats above this space with a series of galleries slung below. A box floats between these two elements, mediating and facilitating circulation between them.