fieldwork

Reimagine Tuam
Hometown Architect in Tuam brings the community together to address the issue of vacancy within the town.
Community partners: Creative Places Tuam
Architects: Helena McElmeel Architects and Niall O Cleirigh
Hometown Architect in Tuam brings the community together to address the issue of vacancy within the town.

The Tuam project is one of five projects around the country selected in 2023 for the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Reimagine Hometown Architect initiative, a programme which focuses on the revitalisation of Ireland’s towns and villages.

This project’s ambition was to bring the community of Tuam together to address the issue of vacancy within the town. The “Vacant to Vibrant” project team set out to reactivate Tuam’s High Street by looking at current pockets of vacancy and dereliction, memories of a more vibrant past, and the inspiration of local businesses.

The team hosted a series of engagement workshops and consultations with the community and circulated an online survey to gather feedback from residents. A comprehensive mapping of vacant buildings in the town was developed, and the team engaged with building owners to discuss the possibilities of bringing vacant properties back into use.

A final event to present the findings and opportunities to the community will take place in May 2024.

In the video below you can watch a work-in-progress presentation by the Tuam team during a Reimagine Café held in August 2023.

 

Hometown Architect is part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Reimagine programme, which aims to connect 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.

IAF Re-Imagine