11/04/2025
An account of the second session of RSUA Conference, Architecture 2025: Reuse and Revitalise by Dominic Morris, Director McNally Morris Architects and member of RSUA climate Emergency Committee.
This was the final section of the conference and focused on live case studies to conclude the day and as stated in the introduction by Ciarán Fox the RSUA was ‘Saving the best to last’.
Find architectural opportunities in commercial reuse: Arthur Parke , Design Director at Like Architects
Arthur discussed three of his practices projects for the presentation – ‘The Keep’- Formerly British Home Stores building Central Belfast; ‘McConnell’s distillery’, Crumlin Road Gaol; and ‘Queensway Store’, Crawley.
Arthur conveyed his practices approach when working on existing buildings which is to analysis in depth the existing buildings , including history and development as well as architectural and structural composition. He emphasised that refurbishment often involves interventions such as alterations and extensions so a balance must be struck in the approach between conservation and reimagining.
The presentation showed how the The Keep and the Queensway project offered more in terms of reimagining given their much changed conditions and busy city centre locations. The Keep has just been completed and hosts three high profile tenants including Apple. The Queensway Store is still in the design process but the traction and support is positive. Of the three projects McConnell’s distillery was the most challenging in that it is a Grade A listed building but Arthur dicussed how the discussions with HED were positive especially about the levels of interventions required -e.g. cells having to be removed over a number of storeys to facilitate the grain hoppers for the company. It was not lost on the audience of how this positive engagement with heritage officers contrasted with earlier discussions in Section 1
He concluded that ‘no city stands still’ and stated that a creative approach to reimagining our buildings can offer much needed revitalisation of our city centres.
Creating a positive energy Block: Rosie Webb, Head of Decarbonisation at Technological College( TU) Dublin :
Rosie explained in her introduction about her role now in TU, which stems from the colleges own Climate action plan 2024, however she highlighted that most of her presentation was focused on her previous role as a development architect in Limerick County council . This included a Pilot project in Limerick focused on moving away from Fossil fuels and creating a positive energy district. Rosie clarified that In the ROI every local authority must have a climate action plan and within this identify a decarbonisation zone- The reasoning being that the Public sector must lead by example and give people empowerment to continue this approach.
So as part of the project in Limerick they created and analysed the positive energy block within the Georgian Limerick District-which included energy creation projects . A digital model of the block was used. Within this Rosies roll was to look at dereliction and vacancy in central Limerick – interestingly up to 60% on upper floors reducing to 20-40 % on lower floors. (No doubt a common statistic across many towns and cities). Later on it was highlighted by Rosie that betterment made by the pilot project improved vacancy rates improving by 60% however conversely this increased energy use which they were striving to reduce overall .
The presentation ended with some mention of projects piloted by TU Dublin . One being tracking carbon emissions impacts against decarbonisation activities. One comment that perhaps was most notable and not explored fully given time constraints was that some projects were hitting 2030 targets without the need for retrofit of buildings . Perhaps one to circle back on for the RSUA.
The presentation was packed full of information and data but the big take way was the frustration of realising the projects- parts of it requiring planning and taking several years to process with huge amounts spent on consultancy and applications fees and not enough on the project itself . The other frustration being that the projects are still pilots and Rosie was imploring local authority and Government to start rolling these out at pace to meet climate challenges.
Good Bones for long life: Jonathan Macauley, Joint managing Director, Design ID
Jonathon presented a project for the recent relocation of his practices offices in Hillsborough, Co Down- the former GS Motorcycles shop at 23 Lisburn Road in the village now known as ‘23 LR studios’. Part office for his practice but also part creative hub for other businesses. The site had two buildings , the showroom to the front and a shed to the rear.
Jonathan was the client as well as the engineer however he approached this project with Conservation Engineering principles which thankfully suited the clients limited budget. His mantra of ‘Lean Design’ also being implemented- exemplified in for e.g. the retention of ex timber trusses with the additional of some bracing-so often this would be dismissed as failing structurally and replaced. The stripping out revealed materials that could be retained and exposed problems that needed resolved. Reclaimed sanitary ware also fulfilled the reuse if possible approach.
The rear shed although beyond salvaging was still retained and plug and play shipping containers placed inside and used to create a street inside for business to rent.
The project was fully supported by local council and grants such as the rural investment fund and Energy Efficient grant utilised. The latter for PV panels and batteries.
Again the challenges of planning timelines was highlighted.
Jonathan finished with some statisticss and highlighted that with good lean design we can save and ruse existing buildings capturing all that embodied carbon .
Panel Discussion:
The section ended with panel discussion and like earlier parts this did not disappoint and provided many useful debates. Questions posed like ‘Did they ever consider demolition as an option?’ were debated.
The answer to this question from the panel being no which was positive but realistically this is often yes in many cases as can be seen in our town and city centres. The overall consensus is that this must change.
Overall the presentations were very engaging and clearly exemplars for reuse of existing buildings and a fitting end to a packed day.
