The Brewhouse, Kilkenny
The project at the Brewhouse Building in Kilkenny is one of the most exciting developments at the former Smithwicks (Diageo) Brewery site in Kilkenny. The existing iconic industrial building is proposed to be renovated to accommodate a range of flexible uses such as education, research & development and office use. It lies within the wider masterplan prepared by Reddy A+U for the distinctive Abbey Creative Quarter area and is the largest structure to be retained and reused in the plan.
The Brewhouse Building was designed in the Bauhaus style and constructed for the former Smithwick’s Brewery in the early 1960s with extensions added over the following 30 years. It is a rare building in terms of its industrial heritage and modernist qualities and offers great opportunities for the redevelopment forming the anchor element in the regeneration of the area. Its refurbishment and reuse, represents best principles in sustainable development and forms a key link in the architectural and social history of the city.
A number of key principles have been incorporated into the design and form the backbone of the design proposals for the Abbey Quarter. The original building is valuable in its aesthetic, historic and sustainability credentials and is robust enough to allow sensitive contemporary interventions to enhance the spatial and functional working of the future uses.
The development will kick start the Abbey Creative Quarter and the location and provision of the new route through the building helps define these aspirations at such an early stage in the masterplans development. The central route is opened up to form an atrium to help orientate the occupants and provide a vibrant feel to the building which will front onto the remodeled Horse Barrack Lane, providing a new public space and sense of civic gravitas.
