Noel de Chenu, who has died aged 77, was an architect whose long and distinguished career in the Office of Public Works was crowned by the conversion of the College of Science in Upper Merrion Street to today's imposing Government Buildings.
The project closest to his heart, however, was the creation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.
He was also proud of his role in the introduction of the "1 per cent for Art Scheme" whereby 1 per cent of the budget for public buildings is allocated for art works. The scheme now applies to local authorities and to all public bodies with construction budgets.
He was born in Drumcondra, Dublin, on December 25th, 1924, the son of Roger de Chenu, a dress designer from Poitiers, France, and his wife Aileen (née McShane).
He was educated at St Patrick's National School, Drumcondra, and later at Synge Street CBS.
There he developed an interest in acting along with his friend Eamonn Andrews. The Synge Street Annual of 1945 records their accomplished performances in a comedy sketch and praised Noel de Chenu's "magnificent characterisation".
He was also an outstanding schoolboy athlete, a sprinter, and was Leinster schoolboy champion, running the 100 yards in 10.4 seconds.
Noel de Chenu's original ambition was to be an artist and he briefly attended the National College of Art before switching to architectural studies at University College Dublin. This move gave him the opportunity to further develop his acting talent and he joined the UCD Dramatic Society.
His student architectural work was of the highest order and he was noted for producing wonderful esquisses (sketch designs). However, such was his enthusiasm for DramSoc activities that his architectural studies began to suffer.
Not only was he performing in college productions but he was also active among other young theatre groups in Dublin, notably the Eamonn Andrews/Jack McGowran Drama Group.
The Professor of Architecture, J.V. Downes, eventually asked him to choose between the stage and architecture.
He chose to concentrate on his studies and qualified with an honours degree in 1949, winning the Downe's Medal for Architecture. He went to work in the private practice of the professor of architecture, as was customary for the brightest graduate of each year. Two years later he joined the Board of Works, now the Office of Public Works. In his early years at the Office of Public Works he was still drawn to the theatre and in 1954 gave a fine performance as Archbishop Thomas à Beckett in a DramSoc production of Murder in the Cathedral.
At this time, he began writing radio and theatre plays under the nom de plume, Roger MacShane, and in 1957 won first prize in the Irish Film Society scriptwriting competition.
Inspired and bemused by the administrative systems and some personalities within the Office of Public Works and the civil service generally, he wrote a three-act play, Necropolis, presented in 1962 by the Lantern Theatre Club.
The programme notes described the action as taking place "in the basement office of the Architectural War Graves Division somewhere off Merrion Square".
He had already begun to establish his reputation as an architect. Within the New Schools Division of the Office of Public Works, he made a major contribution to the remarkable nationwide school building programme of the 1950s.
His influence as an architect grew when he was chosen by the then principal architect, Raymond McGrath, to set up the Irish Embassy in Paris.
This involved locating a suitable building, fitting it out and decorating it in the manner appropriate to an embassy.
The building chosen in Paris was the Hotel de Breteuil, a replica of an 18th century townhouse located near the Arc de Triomphe and noted for its interior wood panelling, frescoes and marble staircase, an added feature was the modest price.
He carried out similar work, which he executed with great skill, in The Hague, Brussels, Moscow and Tokyo. The setting up of the embassies presented him also with the opportunity to select and purchase art works not just for the embassies abroad but for Government Buildings at home.
He had a preference for the work of young emerging artists and, in 1998, the Office of Public Works put a selection of his purchases on show in the New Directions exhibition. As a result of his efforts, the State art collection grew from 2,000 to 6,000 works.
In the 1970s Noel de Chenu, then assistant principal architect, broke new ground in the long-neglected area of civil service office accommodation.
He proceeded with the help of a new generation of young architects to put the standard of office accommodation and furnishings on a par with anything in the corporate sector. He was appointed principal architect in 1980. His influence on the architects who worked under him was immense.
He constantly impressed on them the centrality of design. He encouraged them to have confidence in their ability and expressed the view "that with artists as well as architects, their work shouldn't be completely understood by the public - they should be ahead of their time".
He was awarded the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Silver Medal for Conservation for his work on Government Buildings.
Elected a full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts in 1987, he was in 1997 appointed Professor of Architecture to the Academy. He also served as a member of the board of IMMA.
In December 1989 he retired as principal architect in the Office of Public Works and was retained as art adviser from then until 2001.
A bibliophile, his other hobbies were stamp and coin collecting, photography and amateur film-making. He had a lifelong interest in cinema and theatre. He enjoyed good food, good wine and good company, travel and all things French and Italian.
He is survived by his wife Mary (née Donohoe), sons Daniel and Christian, and daughter Clare.
Noel de Chenu: born December 25th, 1924; died October 4th, 2002