Horgan Carroll Architects were delighted to have with Kenneth Hennessy Architects and Tipperary County Council on the recent application to fund a new ‘Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Energy’ building under the Project Ireland Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.

The new ‘Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Energy’ will serve as the main catalyst in the transformative urban regeneration of Nenagh Town centre. The project builds on over 20 years of partnership and collective leadership between Tipperary County Council, Tipperary Energy Agency, North Tipperary Development Company, Community Power and Limerick Institute of Technology.

It is envisaged that The Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Energy will become the National destination of learning and education for sustainable energy technologies. The building, designed in partnership between Kenneth Hennessy Architects and Horgan Carroll Architects as a state of the art ‘demonstrator’ building, will host over 130 social and sustainable energy professionals and researchers, and will be act as a pilot centre for innovation in active and smart grid technology.

The Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Energy will also be the centrepiece and catalyst for the integrated regeneration of the Martyr’s Road Regeneration Quarter, on 10ha of underutilised town centre brownfield lands in the centre of Nenagh town to be re-developed by applying best practice principles in low carbon planning, with energy self-sufficient buildings, lifecycle housing and services, set within new parks and civic spaces.

The project will achieve transformative place-making through the innovative integration of spatial and energy planning, where architectural, planning and energy experts will provide continued support through the Centre of Excellence in the design and development of a new Low-Carbon Neighbourhood.

The Centre of Excellence building has been designed to provide a collaborative working environment for a number of public agencies involved in the delivery of training, research & development for future energy transition and is planned to be Ireland’s first carbon-neutral and energy positive building when completed. A feasibility study and wider masterplan was also prepared as part of the application for the Low Carbon Neighbourhood.