LIMERICK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURTHOUSE

This building occupies a very prominent site on the edge of the River Shannon at its junction with the Abbey River in the Heart of Limerick City.
The project called for the complete restoration, renovation and modernisation of the existing County Circuit Courthouse building (1810) on Merchants Quay.
These works involved the reinstatement and upgrading of the external fabric and complete refurbishment and reorganisation of the internal spaces and a requirement to accommodate significant expansion in floor area.

While the building envelope retained much of its original form from this period, the interior however was extensively remodelled in 1957 and any surviving historic detail at this time was lost. The original pitched roof was removed and replaced with a flat asphalt roof giving the building an unfortunate truncated appearance.There was also additions of a single storey flat roof cell block on the North Elevation, with remodelling of the fenestration on the South on the West Elevations.
From the outset of the project it was considered appropriate that the new accommodation should be contained as far as possible within the footprint of the existing building.
The proposal for extending the additional accommodation into the roof space was significant as it avoided building outside the footprint. More importantly, the reinstatement of the roof was vital in re-establishing the original profile of the building.

The project was awarded the Plan Expo Opus Building of the year Award in the Conservation and Restoration category. The Assessors Report was as follows:

"The 1810 listed courthouse had been mutilated over such time that the original roof and interior historical features had been removed. The removal of inappropriate building additions, and the decision to incorporate extra accommodation requirements in a reinstated roof, were architectural measures that provided a means to help conserve this waterside classical building. The riverside walk and the public domain have been enhanced by the architectural skill demonstrated in the conservation project".