The Ballyshannon Historic Towns Initiative has been shortlisted for the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) Public Choice Award 2023.
The project involved repair of nineteen run-down or unused buildings in and around The Mall, The Diamond and Main Street. This made a massive improvement in the appearance and future fortunes of the historic town core, ‘on a shoestring budget’.
Ballyshannon was the first designated heritage town in County Donegal with a ‘heritage-led’ design guide, prepared by Dedalus Architecture.
The restoration of local derelict buildings also involved a dedicated project team which included the Ballyshannon Regeneration Group and Donegal County Council. They established connections with building owners to undertake a series of repair projects. The project demonstrated the potential for modest conservation and repair work to address regeneration ‘inclusively, sustainably and cost-effectively’.
A spokesperson for the team said: “As key buildings are put back into use and, outputs from other associated projects are made available, these provide a reference for responsible upgrading of other traditionally constructed buildings, add to local knowledge and capacity to undertake work successfully elsewhere, at the scale necessary to meet the climate challenge.”
Dedalus also worked on similar projects undertaken at Church Lane, Letterkenny, and Castle Street in Ramelton. The last of these was the winner of the Urban Design category in the RIAI Awards, and the final shortlist of three in the SPAB UK and Ireland Awards for Sustainability, in 2022.
Members of the public can cast their votes in the Public Choice Award for the Ballyshannon Historic Towns Initiative using the following link: https://www.riai.ie/public-choice-award-poll/
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