2025 Programme, Talk
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
27.09.25-29.11.25
11.09.25-24.10.25
Event Information
New Life, Old Buildings 2025
11.09.25-24.10.25
Limerick 11 & 18 September
Online 23 & 24 October
Free
Registration required
Event Information
New Life, Old Buildings 2025
11.09.25-24.10.25
Limerick 11 & 18 September
Online 23 & 24 October
Free
Registration required
New Life, Old Buildings is IAF’s national programme about the future of buildings that are already built.
With a focus on the most sustainable resource of all, the buildings that are already built, New Life, Old Buildings challenges us to consider how Ireland’s architectural heritage can be reimagined as shared, adaptable and resilient spaces for contemporary life.
By bringing together communities, architects, policymakers and cultural voices, the 2025 programme explores how the people of Limerick envision the city, and how we can collectively build spaces that truly reflect how we live now, and how we want to live in the future.
New Life, Old Buildings is presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation and funded by the National Built Heritage Service and the Heritage Council. The IAF is principally funded by the Arts Council / An Comhairle Ealaíon.
This year New Life, Old Buildings takes place in Limerick on 11 and 18 September and online on 23 and 24 October.
You are invited to join a full day of events in Limerick city, with walking tours, open table discussions, site visits and panel discussion. You are welcome to join us for the whole day or attend any activity that interests you. All events are free but must be booked in advance.
Book for events on 11 September.
1. Walking tour | Never Look Back, 12:30pm
The first day of events will kick off with a guided walking tour of Limerick city centre, inspired by EVA’s Never Look Back archive.
EVA International is Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art. Throughout its many years of existence, EVA has used over 160 sites, spaces and venues across Limerick city for the presentation of contemporary art. EVA’s use of the city reflects the changing ambition of the visual arts to integrate itself into the broader social environment, while also reflecting the evolution and development of the urban fabric itself.
Meeting point: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
Open table discussion is an informal type of conversation that invites people to gather around a table over lunch to participate in a themed conversation.
This is an opportunity for community members, artists, and professionals to share their specific spatial needs, discuss the challenges they face, and explore the possibilities of transforming vacant buildings into functional spaces for arts and culture. Take a seat at the table to listen and share your perspective.
Location: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
This is an opportunity to visit 2 buildings in different stages of renovation. The visits are led by the managers of the sites, who will provide a tour of the space and share their experiences.
Meeting point: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
This panel will delve into the broader implications of demolition and how the current systems facilitate a culture of demolish and replace. The presentations will explore the environmental, cultural and social costs of demolition, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A from the audience.
Speakers:
Location: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
You are invited to join a full-day of events in Limerick city, with walking tours, open table discussions, site visits and panel discussion. You are welcome to join us for the whole day or attend any activity that interests you. All events are free but must be booked in advance.
Book for events on 18 September.
Tour the city centre with the Executive Architectural Conservation Officer for Limerick City & County Council, looking at heritage buildings and typologies that constitute the city’s urban fabric.
Meeting point: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
Open table discussion is an informal type of conversation that invites people to gather around a table over lunch to participate in a themed conversation. The conversation will centre on the types of spaces needed to support the work of organisations dedicated to social inclusion and community development, encouraging collaboration and idea-sharing among participants. Take a seat at the table to listen and share your perspective.
Location: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
This is an opportunity to visit 2 buildings in different stages of renovation, offering a firsthand look at the challenges and successes of transforming spaces for collective benefit.
Meeting point: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
This panel will present national and international case studies of renovation, reuse and adaptation of buildings and visions for city centre regeneration. After the presentations, speakers will join a panel discussion and a Q&A session from the audience.
Speakers:
Location: Wickham Way, 11 Wickham St, Prior’s-Land, V94 WR8N
Join University of Limerick architecture graduates as they share highlights and insights gathered from the in-person sessions in Limerick.
Register for the Look at the City webinar.
Webinar | Creating Space, 1pm
This webinar will present practical information for groups or individuals interested in bringing back a vacant building.
Register for the Creating Space webinar.
Photo:
Former vacant commercial building, currently Lumen Street Theatre, 2023 – present.
Former Shannon Wholesale Electric, 1976 – 2022
A.P.V. DESCO Dairy Supply Company in Limerick, 1956 -1974
Bannatyne Corn Store and Offices of City Mills & Ranks, 1839 -1940
Photo by Deirdre Power.
Rose Bonner Alexander is an Irish architect and co-founder of tún – architecture + design, a design and research based practice established in 2015. The practice recently completed Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School, the winning entry of the Department of Education / RIAI competition for a new urban primary school, which has since been recognised with both AAI and RIAI awards in 2025. Alongside practice, Rose teaches in NCAD and UCD and engages in research. Recently she completed her MA, Rethinking Demolition: An Ethos of Retention, Repair and Anticipation in Architecture Today, which was commended in the RIAI awards research category in 2025.
Joseph Kilroy leads the Chartered Institute of Building’s (CIOB) Policy and Public Affairs work in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Joseph’s work at the CIOB focuses on sustainability, housing, planning, and mental health in the construction sector. Prior to joining the CIOB Joseph held advisory roles in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Office of the Planning Regulator, and the Royal Town Planning Institute. He is a public service fellow of the University of Sheffield, and has published policy papers on governance, planning reform, housing delivery, job quality in the construction sector, Ireland’s rental sector, and local authority led housing delivery.
Colm mac Aoidh is a transdisciplinary practitioner, researcher, and writer whose work spans design, literature, language, architecture, and urbanism. He studied Visual Communication Design at TU Dublin, followed by Architecture at London Metropolitan University and KU Leuven Sint-Lucas Ghent. After practicing with Caruso St John Architects in London and Robbrecht en Daem architecten in Ghent, he worked with the Brussels Bouwmeester Maitre Architecte on the Horizon 2020 project Urban Maestro, which explored innovative approaches to urban design governance. He is currently a PhD researcher in the Trace research group at Hasselt University, where he investigates and supports transdisciplinary practices of adaptive reuse through the collaborative platform Adapt, Reuse.
Rachel O’Grady is a founding director of OGU Architects and lectures in architecture at Queen’s University Belfast. OGU is an architecture, research and urban design studio based in Belfast that assists socially conscious clients improve public places and buildings through careful research, material quality and meaningful collaboration with makers and manufacturers. Working at various scales from street installations to citywide strategies, the practice has become known in particular for temporary and meanwhile projects. These include 2 Royal Avenue: the transformation of a Listed bank building into an indoor public space and Queen’s Quay Kiosk: a flexible installation bringing life to Belfast’s river’s edge. OGU have won the AJ Small Projects Award, Civic Trust Award and have been featured in the RIBA J’s ‘Future Winners’ list. To date, OGU have been commissioned by Belfast City Council to work with over 50 community and business clusters across Belfast to find ways to improve their premises and surroundings.
Emer Grant is the Artistic Director and CEO of NN Contemporary Art, a National Portfolio Organisation based in Northampton. She is a curator, producer, and researcher, having studied at CCS Bard College (USA), the University of York (UK), and the University of Brighton (UK).
In Northampton, Emer is leading the £4.7m transformation of 24 Guildhall Road—a 1927 former Town Hall—into NNCA’s new permanent home, opening in early 2026. Designed with Sean Griffiths (ex-F.A.T) and featuring permanent commissions by Giles Round, the five-floor, 2,000 sqm site will house a gallery, 20 artist studios, a project space, education studio, and community kitchen. NNCA sits at the heart of the region’s cultural ecology, redefining what artist-led institutions can be in the 21st century.
Studio Saol is a strategic design practice working at the intersection of design, innovation, and systems change. From their home in Limerick, they work across scales and sectors, driven by a commitment to shaping a more sustainable future through design. Their approach considers place as fundamental to collaborative practice, working closely with communities and clients to co-create context-specific responses. Depending on the challenge, this can take the form of new visions, strategies, products, services, experiences, brands, systems, or spaces.
27.09.25-29.11.25
16.08.25-28.09.25