The Irish Design Excellence Award Exhibition

All Ways Home, a three-minute animated short film directed by illustrator Alan Dunne, celebrates Ireland’s first space mission, the launch of the EIRSAT-1 satellite in December 2023. Commissioned by UCD Arts and Humanities and UCD Research, the film brings to life a poem about home, belonging and identity, written and voiced by twelve secondary school students from across Ireland. Through richly textured illustrations, poetic imagery and an original musical score by Phil Brookes, the animation connects the personal experience of home with the extraordinary achievement of space exploration. Produced in both English and Irish, the film celebrates a historic national milestone while reflecting on the cultural and emotional meaning of home.

The Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant reimagines essential public infrastructure as civic architecture. Designed by Clancy Moore Architects for Uisce Éireann, the facility provides vital wastewater treatment while supporting the restoration of the River Avoca and surrounding coastal waters. Developed through collaboration between architects, engineers, environmental specialists and the local community, the building organises complex treatment processes into a compact, vertically stacked arrangement, reducing land use and energy consumption. Its distinctive louvred façade provides ventilation and gives the facility an architectural identity rooted in Arklow’s industrial heritage. The project demonstrates how thoughtful design can improve environmental performance while transforming essential infrastructure into a meaningful public landmark for the town.

Backpack Housing is an innovative modular housing system developed by Superposition to address housing insecurity in Hong Kong. Designed for temporary use within vacant buildings awaiting redevelopment, the project transforms underused urban spaces into safe, private accommodation. Each dwelling consists of a reconfigurable kit of parts that can be assembled, adapted and relocated as residents move between homes. Combining digital fabrication with practical construction methods, the system makes use of existing buildings and infrastructure while minimising waste. Developed in response to Hong Kong’s housing crisis, Backpack Housing proposes an alternative approach to temporary accommodation, prioritising dignity, flexibility and the reuse of existing resources over conventional construction.

Equimetrics S-PRO is an integrated wearable technology system designed to give racehorse trainers objective insights into equine performance, fitness and recovery. Developed in Ireland by Equimetrics and Frontend.com, the system combines an ergonomic sensor saddle pad, reusable sensor unit and smartphone app to capture and interpret physiological and movement data. Designed around the demanding routines of professional racing yards, S-PRO allows trainers and riders to monitor horses without disrupting their daily training. Its intuitive digital interface transforms complex data into practical insights, helping trainers optimise workloads, track fitness and identify potential health concerns. The project combines advanced technology with traditional horsemanship, supporting informed decisions and improved horse welfare.

Mega Dreoilín, a 20-minute long, 16-bit video game, is a radical reimagining of_edutainment designed for the demographic of ‘Generation Rent’. As participants play Mega Dreoilín, they will come to understand the feeling of extended adolescence experienced by main character 23 year-old Em (they/them), a phenomenon in which traditional markers of adulthood feel out of reach. This is due to in-game conversations which address housing precarity, cultural space scarcity and the effects of corporate landlordism in Dublin. It is also referenced in the game’s nostalgic, pixelated aesthetic, which pays homage to the past, while alluding to a feeling of being trapped within it.

Paul Yates MCMLXVII–MMXXIII: Selected Poems is a carefully crafted publication celebrating over five decades of work by the Belfast-born poet, artist and filmmaker. Designed by Slater, the book combines restrained typography with considered materials and innovative navigation to reflect the character of Yates’ work. Arranged in reverse chronological order, its distinctive thumb tabs allow readers to explore the collection freely, while changes in paper stock, original paintings and handwritten details create rhythm throughout. A protective slipcase featuring Yates’ painting Marine Tattie Bogle contrasts with the understated book cover. Every element has been designed to complement the poetry, creating an intimate connection between the reader, the artist and his work.

Retirement Plan is a seven-minute animated short film directed by Irish filmmaker John Kelly, exploring the hopes, anxieties and unfulfilled ambitions of modern life. Voiced by Domhnall Gleeson, the film follows Ray, a man dreaming of everything he will finally have time to do when he retires. Combining understated animation with dark humour and emotional depth, the story reflects on the passage of time, mortality and the tendency to postpone life’s pleasures. Commissioned by RTÉ and Screen Ireland, the film was created by a small Irish production team using a deliberately restrained visual style. Its distinctive storytelling has received international recognition, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film.

The Intelligence Garden is a large-scale immersive digital experience created by Irish studio GLASSEYE under the creative direction of Agustín Vidal Saavedra. Commissioned for Outernet London, the four-minute installation transforms a monumental 360-degree digital environment into a journey exploring the evolution of intelligence, from microscopic life to human consciousness. Through interconnected sequences of animation, movement, sound and architectural imagery, the work presents intelligence not as an individual attribute but as a living system shaped by relationships between organisms, environments and technology. Combining artistic storytelling with advanced digital production, the experience invites audiences to reflect on nature, creativity and the connections that shape our understanding of the world.

The Tapestry of Ireland is a three-metre-wide textile artwork commissioned by Škoda Ireland and created by Irish embroidery artist Eileen McNulty in collaboration with creative agency Boys + Girls. Bringing together more than 50 scenes, the tapestry celebrates Ireland’s cultural identity through a combination of historic landmarks, contemporary architecture and everyday life. Newgrange and the Giant’s Causeway appear alongside sea swimmers, dog walkers and familiar scenes of modern Ireland. Crafted using 48 different fabrics and 7.5 kilometres of thread, the work required 637 hours of handwork. Transforming a traditional craft into a contemporary portrait, the tapestry explores the many places, people and experiences that define Ireland today.