New Life for Old Buildings is a national programme about the future of buildings that are already built. It is developed and delivered by the Irish Architecture Foundation as part of Reimagine, the IAF’s placemaking programme. Our aim is to empower people determined to transform Ireland’s vacant buildings into homes by providing opportunities for on-the-ground learning and knowledge  exchange, building a national network of individuals determined to breathe new life into old buildings.

In 2024, the New Life for Old Buildings programme will take place in Limerick in partnership with our anchor venue, the Hunt Museum, with our launch event being held at the International Rugby Experience building. Our Culture Night launch is the first of a number of Limerick based walks, talks, clinics, and site visits events in 2024 and 2025. The 2024 programme is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

This weekend is an opportunity to launch New Life for Old Buildings 2024 and welcome the people of Limerick to be involved in our upcoming events. The Friday evening launch takes place on Culture Night and looks thematically at cultural memory and the built environment with a focus on vacancy, demolition, and contemporary city-making practice. This will be animated through a walking tour of Georgian Limerick, our existing New Life for Old Buildings archive, a formal launch of our programme, and panel discussion with invited speakers representing the diversity of perspectives needed for breathing new life into old buildings. This is followed by our Saturday morning site visits to meet first-hand with the people of Limerick who are at different stages of converting vacant buildings into homes. These visits offer a rare opportunity to meet homeowners and experts who have successfully transformed, or are transforming, vacant properties into vibrant living spaces.

New Life for Old Buildings 2024 launch weekend: We Are What We Build, 20-21 September 

Join us for a unique Culture Night experience as we launch our New Life for Old Buildings programme for Limerick in 2024. This evening, held in the iconic International Rugby Experience building, explores how cultural memory embeds itself within the built and vacant fabric of our cities. Through tours of Georgian Limerick and insightful panel discussions with thought leaders in city-making you’ll gain a fresh perspective on how we can breathe new life into old buildings in Limerick and beyond.

1. ‘Georgian Limerick’ City Walking Tour, Friday 20 September, 17:30-19:00 (free)

Explore Limerick’s Georgian architectural heritage with local architect and conservation expert Cáit Ní Cheallacháin for a walk about tour of where it all began. Meeting at the Hunt Museum and finishing at the International Rugby Experience building. Register for the Walking Tour.

2. ‘We are What We Build’ Panel Discussion, Friday 20 September, 19:00-20:15, The Dugout, International Rugby Experience (free)

Kick off your Culture Night with the official launch of our programme and welcome from IAF Director Emmett Scanlon and the Mayor of Limerick, John Moran. Then join us for our first talk series of the event where will be joined by a diversity of city-makers and thinkers as they discuss themes of cultural memory within cities through the lens of vacancy, adaptive reuse, and breathing new life into old buildings. Panel members include Professor Sally Stone, Jamin Keogh, Kieran Reeves, and the Mayor of Limerick. Register for the Panel Discussion.

3. Site Visits, Saturday 21 September, 10:00-12:00 (€10 for both)

If you’re in the process of bringing a vacant property back into use or just thinking about it, then join us for the first two site visits for 2024 where we’ll meet first-hand the people of Limerick who are at different stages of converting vacant buildings into homes. Each visit will be hosted by the property owner and/or a built environment professional involved in the project and will be followed by a nearby cup of tea and a chat. This will be a chance to swap tips, woes, and joys, and learn from each other. Held in the Georgian neighbourhood of Limerick City, meeting at The Crescent. Register for the Site Visits.

This is the first of three New Life for Old Buildings weekends in Limerick this autumn. Save the dates for

• First Steps: No Finance, No Project, 4-5 October
• On-site Insight, 11-12 October

New Life for Old Buildings is a key part of the IAF’s mission to inspire new ways of thinking about the built environment and turning challenges into opportunities for community-driven change. We extend our gratitude to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for funding this programme and to all of our project and venue partners and contributors for making this valuable work possible.

Photo: New Life for Old Buildings Site Visit 2023, photo by Irish Architecture Foundation.