The Snug is an experimental participatory design project exploring the place and places of conversation in contemporary Ireland.


Led by international arts collective Unqualified Design Studio (Architecture Project Award 2023/24), the project invites communities to come together in the unlikely privacy of a 6x6m popup snug - giving life to a momentary, real-world ‘chat room’.

The Snug debuted in June 2024 at Carlow Arts Festival, hosting a curated talk series examining the relationship between the stories we tell and the spaces where we tell them - and asking what it is that makes us feel connected to each other and the world around us.

Co-creators: Shane Sugrue, Hugh Farrell, Bláthnaid Conroy, Barry Todd, Josh Wilkinson and Caitríona O’Connor

Photography and video: Ste Murray

Funded by the Arts Council of Irelands Architecture Project Award 2023/4.