Community + Arts Hub,
Newcastle West
A new community and arts hub on Maiden Street, Newcastle West, transforming vacant buildings into a flexible civic space. The new building will contain a cafe, performance spaces, workshops and studios for the arts, education and business incubator units.. Initiated through THRIVE funding and now progressed to Part 8, the project demonstrates how targeted investment can unlock wider town centre regeneration.
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Client: Limerick City & County Council
Collaborator: FOSCA
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This project takes a group of underused derelict buildings in the centre of Newcastle West and turns them into a central civic building for the community in a number of ways.
Located on Maiden Street, historically one of the town’s most active streets, the scheme works with the existing terrace, repairing and reusing buildings to form the new community and arts hub. Three properties are brought back into use and combined with new interventions to create a multi-functional hub for community, arts, education and small-scale enterprise.The project was initiated through the THRIVE funding programme, allowing Limerick City and County Council to test the opportunity in detail through engagement, surveys and design development. That early work has carried through to a concrete proposal, now subject to Part 8 planning.
The building is designed to feel open and easy to enter, more like a public square or library than a formal institution. The intention is for the building to work alongside other compimentary local organisations, and provide space for a wider network of more informal community, arts and cultural groups who will use the space - bringing vibrancy and people into the town throughout the day and evening.
At street level, a café and small commercial spaces help draw people in throughout the day and into the evening. Above and behind, a mix of rooms support training, workshops, performance, events and everyday community use.
Crucially, the project doesn’t stop at the building with an opportunity for the work to reopen a historic laneway and reconnect the pedestrian link back between the market square and back to Maiden Street.
Nolli Plan: Connecting Urban Fabric and Brewery Lane
Impact
Speculative Sketch of impact on Brewery Lane
Saving buildings + reducing vacancy
The project brings a partially derelict site back into active use, showing how existing buildings can be adapted rather than lost.
Regenerating Maiden Street
A new civic use introduces consistent activity back into one of the town’s most historic streets, supporting footfall, local business and everyday life.
Opening up Brewery Lane
A key move is the reinstatement of a historic pedestrian route connecting Maiden Street to the Market Yard, improving how people move through the town.
Unlocking backland regeneration
Reactivating Brewery Lane creates opportunities for further development, small businesses and public realm improvements beyond the site itself.
Supporting a Town Centre First approach
The project focuses development in the town centre, encouraging walking, reuse of buildings and compact growth.
A new type of public building
Part civic infrastructure, part workspace, part cultural venue, the hub is designed to evolve over time, supporting education, enterprise and community life in one place.
Process
Engagement + Co-creation
The project is grounded in a detailed engagement process led by Limerick City and County Council, working with local organisations and stakeholders to define the brief and test how the building will be used.
Integrated Urban Strategy
The proposal forms part of a wider regeneration strategy for Newcastle West, identifying Maiden Street and Brewery Lane as key opportunity areas.
THRIVE to Part 8
Initiated through THRIVE funding, the project has been developed through feasibility, surveys and design to a deliverable proposal, now progressed through the Part 8 planning process.
Public Notice:
Part 8 Development – Maiden Street, Newcastle West
