Saturday 14 May 2022, 11:00 – 14:00
Note : All Attendees are required to wear Full Site Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for this Site Visit. Site Hard Hat, Site Boots, Site goggles, Site gloves and High vis vest.
Description from the Architects:
The International Rugby Experience will be a new cultural institution and visitor experience to honour the worldwide game of rugby. Located in the heart of Limerick, this ambitious project seeks to reinvigorate the city centre, complement the existing local arts and heritage attractions and forge links with Munster rugby.
The new building sits on the edge of a conservation area within Limerick’s Georgian Quarter. On such a tight urban site, the challenge lies in creating a building with capacity for the intended use but that sits comfortably in the context of the finer grain of the Georgian Quarter. The design approach was to consider this as a special civic building rather than a townhouse and the architectural proposals were developed through research into historic civic buildings set in Georgian streetscapes, referencing the scale of churches and civic halls.
The building is crowned with a public hall at the top. A grand entrance portico addresses the main street, providing shelter and creating a public space below where visitors gather and fans can meet on match days. Both inside and out, structural forces will be expressed through brick and concrete detailing to create a building that reflects some of the forces found in the game of rugby. The structure and brick expression should provide a tangible link to the building’s function and will be key to the visitor experience.
Níall McLaughlin Architects is a practice that designs high quality modern architecture for a range of clients. We put a strong emphasis on the inventive use of building materials, the qualities of light and the relationship between the building and its surroundings. We consider these issues to be more important than working in a particular style and hope that each project will be an original interpretation of the client, end-users, site, brief and budget. With over 30 years in practice and having delivered a broad range of projects, we have gained a reputation for thoughtful, innovative and well-crafted architecture that satisfies clients and wins awards.
For us, practice is understood as a range of activities which are all necessary to each other – design of buildings, fittings and furniture; making buildings, installations and models; connecting speculation, research and practice, lecturing and writing about architecture; collaborations with craftsmen, artists, other architects and creative agencies, and consultants. Dialogue is key. Our studio is built on this ethos, ensuring all members of our team are engaged, motivated and thus valued. Consisting of around 30 architectural staff, our London-based studio offers a collaborative, stimulating and inspiring working environment.