TEAM
Cotter & Naessens Architects are an architecture and design studio based in Cork City since 2001 and founded by Louise Cotter and David Naessens.
L to R: Michelle Delea, David Stalling, Alan Meredith, Louise Cotter, David Naessens, Luke Naessens
Louise Cotter
Louise Cotter is a native of Tralee, Co. Kerry and graduated from the School of Architecture University College Dublin in 1983. Before returning to Ireland in 2001, Louise worked in London with Wickham van Eyck, Colquhoun and Miller and Dixon Jones on cultural and educational projects. Louise Cotter was the Southern Region Representative on RIAI Council from 2014 to 2021 and is a regular contributor to the Irish Arts Review and Architecture Ireland. She was an assistant lecturer at the School of Architecture, CCAE until 2019.
David Naessens
David Naessens is a Dubliner and graduated from the School of Architecture University College Dublin in 1983. He has worked in London with Rick Mather, Branson Coates and Dixon Jones and in Boston with Koetter Kim. David is an accomplished draughtsman and artist and his work has been extensively published and exhibited.
David has extensive teaching experience in Ireland and the UK and was a unit leader in the School of Architecture, CCAE, developing an on-going interest in the planning and design of public space in Irish towns.
Luke Naessens
Is a curator and art historian. He received a PhD in art history from Princeton University in 2024 and is the 2024–25 Terra Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre for American Art at the Courtauld Institute.
He previously worked as a member of the curatorial team at the Barbican Centre in London, assisting in the development of exhibitions including The Japanese House: Art and Life after 1945 (curated by Florence Ostende), The World of Charles and Ray Eames (curated by Catherine Ince), Magnificent Obsessions: The Artist as Collector (curated by Lydia Yee) and Maria Nepumuceno: Cosmic Teta (curated by Luke Naessens).
David Stalling
Is a composer, sound artist, improviser and audio producer whose practice transcends the traditional definition of composing.
He works with various media: acoustic and electronic sound; field recordings, moving image, lighting, and scientific data. Current and recent projects include Earth Traces (2023–24), at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge; all these worlds (2022–23), at the Museum of Literature Ireland, Dublin; and Under the Feet of Shadows (2024), a multimedia installation by EL Putnam and Mike McCormack. Stalling is represented by the Contemporary Music Centre Ireland and his work is published with Farpoint Recordings.
Michelle Delea
Is a multidisciplinary artist engaged in architecture, poetry, filmmaking and event promotion.
She holds an MA in Architecture from Cork Centre for Architectural Education, UCC and currently works between practice and education. Her writing has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Type.ie, and Architecture Ireland. She produced the documentary film The Sprawling Octopus of an Elevated Highway (2022), regarding architectural activism in 1960s Cork.
Alan Meredith
Graduated from UCD School of Architecture in 2015. His work is primarily interested in revealing the inherent properties of wood, with making seen as a reflective journey.
His projects include one-of-a-kind furniture, public space design, and a collection of sculptural wood-turned vessels. Alan won The Golden Fleece - Special Award 2023 and had his first solo exhibition in Ireland, Quercu, at Lavit Gallery, Cork in 2024. His work is stocked in numerous galleries and regularly presented at prestigious fairs in Europe and the United States.