fieldwork

Hometown Architect
Hometown Architect
Hometown Architect is part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Reimagine programme, which connects communities with architects to co-design and improve their local built environment.

Each Hometown Architect project brings together community groups and an architect with a local connection to engage with residents to enhance the shared built environment for all.

Hometown Architect runs for two years, 2023 and 2024, with an open call for projects each year. Hometown Architect projects  are designed to align with the Government of Ireland’s Town Centre First Policy and to focus on addressing issues of particular concern or opportunity for the towns in question. The Town Centre First Policy aims to promote the revitalisation of towns across Ireland, building and sustaining vibrant town centres where communities can flourish.

Both years projects were selected by a panel of experts through the open call. Each of the Hometown Architect projects received €10,000 in development funding, as well as practical support under the IAF Reimagine placemaking programme.

The three projects selected for support in 2024 are:

  • A whole community exploration into reconnecting Mountrath, Co Laois with the Whitehorse River.
  • The delivery of a design proposal for a vacant town centre brownfield site in Bailieborough, Co Cavan to enhance connectivity and mobility.
  • A community-led vision for Moville, Co Donegal to promote inclusivity and belonging for all. 

 

Read the full announcement here.

Five projects were previously selected in 2023, in the first round of Hometown Architect:

  • a masterplan solution for a cluster of vacant buildings in Tipperary town;
  • a visionary blueprint for Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare that is rooted in the spa town’s heritage of wellbeing, by Pritzker Prize-winning architect and Lisdoonvarna native Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects, together with the skill-sharing not-for-profit Common Knowledge, co-founded by Harrison Gardner, presenter of the RTÉ television series ‘Build Your Own Home’;
  • a pathway for making ‘The Granite City’ of Aughrim, Co Wicklow more accessible for all ages and abilities;
  • a whole-community vision for the sustainable development of the historic planned market town of Belmullet, Co Mayo;
  • a one-stop shop for bringing the community of Tuam, Co Galway together to address the issue of vacancy within the town.

Hometown Architect is part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Reimagine programme, which connects communities with architects to co-design and improve their local built environment. The Reimagine programme believes that local insight and tacit knowledge from all stakeholders are integral to developing solutions for our urban spaces, fostering a sense of agency, ownership, and pride among participants.

Funded by the Arts Council and Department of Rural and Community Development, with additional support to the Irish Architecture Foundation from the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage. This project aligns with the national Town Centre First policy, which aims to revitalise towns across Ireland, building and sustaining vibrant town centres where communities can flourish.

Subscribe to the Irish Architecture Foundation newsletter for updates on Hometown Architect, placemaking events, and further opportunities.

Photos 1-3 by Barry Cronin, 4 by Louis Haugh.

 

IAF Re-Imagine