New Life for Old Buildings is a series of events bringing people together to discuss the future use of vacant buildings in our towns and villages.

On this page you can watch the recordings of all events in the series.

The series began on 10 February with a Reimagine Session that formed part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Housing Unlocked programme in the Science Gallery Dublin.

For this panel discussion, we brought together a line-up of speakers from Ireland and Scotland, who explained the policy context and shared case-studies and initiatives, with the aim of inspiring ideas and action.

Speakers:

Alison Harvey – The Heritage Council

Shaheena Din – Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

Emmet Walsh – EWA Architects/The Working Home

Nick Taaffe – Chartered Surveyor and host of the first site visit

Chair: Grainne Shaffrey – Principal, Shaffrey Associates Architects.

New Life for Old Buildings – Site Visits

Following the Reimagine Session, the IAF organised three site visits to renovation projects with different characteristics, allowing participants to see works in progress and exchange practical knowledge from their own experience. The site visits are specifically for people who are already in the process of bringing old buildings back into use or are considering taking on such projects.

You can learn a bit more about each visit by clicking on the event pages and by watching the short videos below:

Dún Laoghaire (11 February 2023)

Cloughjordan (1 April 2023)

Georgian Limerick (27 May 2023)

New Life for Old Buildings – Webinar

The final event of the series brought together the site visit hosts to share their experiences on bringing a vacant and underused property back into use.

New Life for Old Building is supported by the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage.

Housing Unlocked is a collaboration between the Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) and The Housing Agency (HA), driven by the need to apply innovation and expertise not just to the final product but to the integrated system that delivers our homes.

Irish Architecture Foundation core funders: Arts Council of Ireland; Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage; and Office of Public Works.

Photo by Ste Murray. Reimagine Session and Site Visit videos by Infocus Media.