Lifetime Lab has received the 2006 RIAI Irish Architecture special award for Best Conservation/Restoration project

The RIAI Awards 2006 were presented by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche TD, at a ceremony in Dublin City Council’s Civic Offices on Wednesday, 7 June 2006. The Irish Architecture Awards are intended to communicate the range, variety and quality of Architects work in any one year. There are four special award winners, each of which will be on display in the Members’ Room at the RIAI, 8 Merrion Square (8 June - 7 July) before travelling to twenty different locations around the country.

Jack Coughlan and Niall Macken from Jack Coughlan Associates (JCA) received the special award for ‘Best Conservation / Restoration Project’ on behalf of JCA and Cork City Council. The jury citation reads;

‘In developing this unique former waterworks site for reuse, interventions were carried out in a low-key modern idiom. The prominent elevator and bridge create an appropriately scaled signal of the new use of the site, yet do not compete with the landmark brick and stone chimney stack. The character of the existing structures has been successfully harnessed, through thoughtful low-key interpretation.’

Michael O’Doherty, First Vice President, RIAI. Niall Macken, Conservation Architect, JCA Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche TD Jack Coughlan, Principal, JCA.

Jack Coughlan Associates are very pleased with the award and especially the recognition of the quality of the project by their peers.

Cork City Council is extremely pleased by the outcome of this project, which has provided a unique amenity, of interest in terms of industrial heritage, environmental education and as a tourist attraction. Since the official opening, there has been an immense interest and positive feedback from those who have visited the site, including a steady flow of school groups and private sector groups. Praise should be afforded to our design team and especially our conservation architects Jack Coughlan Associates for helping us realise our ambitions.

Further information on the awards is available at www.riai.ie