Andrew Kirwan

Andrew Kirwan is a scenographer and architect based between Dublin and West Cork.

His work begins with the world of the play: its space, pressure, rhythm, atmosphere and internal laws. Drawing, model-making, material research and full-scale construction are used to discover how that world might be held in performance. These are not treated as stages before design, but as the means through which the theatrical idea is found.

Originally trained as an architect, Kirwan holds a Master of Architecture with Distinction from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, a BSc in Architectural Science with Distinction from University College Dublin, and an MFA in Stage Design from The Lir Academy, Trinity College Dublin. Before establishing his independent practice, he worked across architecture and design in Ireland and Canada, including four years as Design Lead at Joseph Walsh Studio, collaborating with an international team of designers and makers on sculptural and spatial works.

His scenographic practice is shaped by direct engagement with making. Models, prototypes and construction are used to think through a production rather than simply represent it. Process is not a private or secondary activity; it is the place where form, rhythm, atmosphere and spatial behaviour are discovered.

Alongside his theatre work, he directs Áitiúil, an independent design studio working across architecture, furniture and objects. While these projects exist in different contexts, they share a common interest in material behaviour, craft and the relationship between body and space.

Whether permanent or temporary, each project is approached as the construction of a spatial world — one shaped through matter, light, time and performance.