When: 3rd July 2025, from 1pm to 2.15pm

Online via Zoom, registration required

Register here

Hometown Architect is a key initiative of the IAF’s placemaking programme. The initiative has already run for two years and supported 8 collaborative projects between local architects and community stakeholders to explore possibilities to regenerate their town centres. The projects developed were designed to align with the Government of Ireland’s Town Centre First Policy and focused on themes such as accessibility, wellbeing, community use of public spaces, sense of belonging, environment, vacancy and dereliction.

Speakers at this session will present an overview of the projects developed as part of Hometown Architect 2024:

Reimagine Bailieborough worked on a design proposal for a vacant site to create a new street linking Main Street to an existing car park and supermarket with the intent of enhancing connectivity and mobility in the town centre as well as promoting sustainable reuse and conservation of the area.

The team for this project was Frank Cooney of Cooney Architects, Caroline Brady, Town Regeneration Officer with Cavan County Council, and Aidan Clarke, a well-established business owner in Bailieborough.

Reimagine Mountrath engaged with the local community to creatively explore how the town could reconnect socially, culturally and artistically with the Whitehorse River, an important amenity connected to the town’s rich history of linen and cotton weaving.

The team for the project was architect Joseph Mackey, Denise Rainey, Town Regeneration Officer with Laois County Council, and the Mountrath Town Team, which comprises representatives from all the local community groups in Mountrath.

Reimagine Moville facilitated a series of inclusive conversations for change that strengthened the sense of belonging of participants and culminated in an event devised and delivered by the residents themselves, where they shared their ideas for the future of the town.

The Moville team was led by architect Mary Kerrigan, who is a SPAB Scholar (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, London) and Sustainable Communities Millennium Fellow, partnering with community stakeholders Clódagh Warnock, founder and director at Ceolan Heritage Group and Ceolan Traditional Music and Harp School, and Anthony Doogan, treasurer, Moville Community Complex Development Company and retired principal of Moville Community College.

Hometown Architect is part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s placemaking programme and is funded by the Arts Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development, with additional support to the IAF from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

photo by Patrick Duddy