New Life Old Buildings in Limerick, 16 September
Event Information
New Life Old Buildings 2026
09.16.26
Limerick City
Free
Registration required
Over two days in Limerick this September and two webinars in October, we invite you to join us in a series of engagements and conversations to explore how existing buildings can become catalysts for connection, creativity and collective wellbeing.
New Life Old Buildings brings people together to rethink vacant and underused buildings as spaces for connection, creativity and everyday life. Through shared learning and local action, the programme is helping to build a culture of care that values existing places as vital foundations for thriving, sustainable communities.
Wednesday 16 September, 2–8pm, Limerick City
Buildings are Places of Connection
“The soul loves the shelter of belonging.” John O'Donohue
You are welcome to join us for the whole programme or attend any activity that interests you. All events are free but must be booked in advance.
Book for events on 16 September.
1. Workshop | Future Spaces: Reimagining Vacant Buildings in Limerick City, 2pm
Collaborative workshop inviting participants to imagine new futures for vacant and underused buildings in Limerick City.
Location: The Hunt Museum, The Custom House, Rutland Street, Limerick, V94 EV8A
2. Panel discussion | From Buildings to Belonging: Reuse, Regeneration and Community, 6:30pm
How can existing buildings become places of belonging? This panel explores how renovation, regeneration and adaptive reuse can create lasting social, cultural and community value. Through diverse projects and perspectives, the discussion will examine the partnerships, challenges and opportunities involved in bringing buildings back to life for the benefit of people and place.
Location: The Hunt Museum, The Custom House, Rutland Street, Limerick, V94 EV8A
Explore the full programme.
Main photo: New Life Old Buildings 2024 site visit. Photo by Deirdre Power.
Speakers
Panelist
Dr Jan Kattein, DipArch, MArch, PhD, FIPM is an academic and practitioner nurturing collective action for positive social and environmental change.
His studio, Jan Kattein Architects, is recognised internationally as a leading placemaking and participatory design practice with award-winning projects that are celebrated for their spatial and civic accomplishments. Recent awards include the 2023 Social Value Architect of the Year Award, Best Build Environment Practice in the TET Education Awards 2023 and a Commendation for a lifetime of Architecture for the Common Good in the 2024 MacEwen Awards.
Jan is the author of The Architecture Chronicle – Diary of an Architectural Practice (2014), High Street Regeneration (2022) and Londoners Making London – Transforming Neighbourhoods (2024).
Panelist
Kevin Loftus, M.Arch MRIAI ARB PSDP is a Founding Director and Design Principal at ACT, leading the practice’s design direction and integration of sustainability across the built environment.
With over a decade of international experience, Kevin has worked on architecture and urbanism projects at leading practices including MVRDV and Büro Ole Scheeren, spanning large scale regeneration and urban planning to high performance sustainable buildings.
A Certified Passive House Designer and Architect Accredited in Conservation (Grade 3), Kevin specialises in sustainable design, adaptive reuse, building performance and placemaking. He works closely with communities, policymakers and interdisciplinary teams to create resilient, sustainable places.
Panelist
Frank Cooney, B.Arch., FRIAI is a Director of Cooney Architects, which he established with Patricia McCaffrey in 1995. Central to the practice is a belief that architecture has a fundamental role in creating and renewing communities so that they become truly sustainable — environmentally, financially and socially, but also in terms of health, equity, beauty and the many other meanings of sustainability.
Frank worked as Project Architect alongside Bernard Gilna on the RIAI Gold Medal-winning Civic Park and Tourism Information Office at Arthur’s Quay Park, Limerick and on the EU-sponsored prototype energy-efficient Green Building in Temple Bar, Dublin.
Today, Cooney Architects works across four principal sectors: sport, adaptive reuse, civic and cultural, and housing. Across these areas, the practice continues to explore how existing buildings and places can be valued, adapted and renewed alongside the creation of new architecture.
For Frank, adaptive reuse is part of this wider understanding of sustainability: recognising the value of what already exists and finding ways for buildings and places to continue to serve their communities while accommodating new uses and new lives.
Chair
Shóna O’Keeffe is the Executive Architectural Conservation Officer for Limerick City and County Council.
