Journal •
TUS Coonagh Cross Campus – redefining our future by repurposing our past
Adaptive reuse is more than just a design strategy; it’s a commitment to honouring the past while shaping a more resilient and inclusive future. By giving old structures a new purpose, we help preserve the local character that defines a community’s identity. The Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Coonagh Campus in Limerick exemplifies this principle. What was once an abandoned shopping centre and a symbol of economic decline, has been transformed into a vibrant, sustainable state-of-the-art engineering education and innovation facility, serving both the university community and the city beyond.
We chose to see opportunity in the project constraints. The generous volumes offered by the former mall inspired the creation of unique spaces such as the “maker space” a dynamic innovation hub that encourages collaboration and creativity. Concepts like the large lecture theatre with a fully glazed roof would typically be avoided within a new build scenario but were opportunities to be embraced within this building.
“The buildings and public spaces we design and create today will shape how future generations understand their history and identity tomorrow.” (IAF, Announcing Future Heritage, our autumn programme and IAF House). The new Coonagh Campus project embodies this view providing a vehicle that allows local industry and education to connect bringing cultural dividends for the greater community into the years to come.
Design innovation extended to research and learning. Because the building followed a unique approach to the conservation of materials, it presented a useful research opportunity that seemed fitting for a student. BDP provided a placement for an architectural student that used the project as a live case study in embodied carbon. The student was trained in the use of the one click LCA software to assess embodied carbon and was given access to the knowledge and support of BDP’s building physics team.
The re-use and re-purposing of existing buildings is a key pillar in the advancement of a circular economy mindset. This project tests the limits of the concept. By reimagining a long-abandoned shopping centre as space for education, industry and innovation, projects like this connect history and innovation. Through thoughtful integration of old and new, we don’t just restore buildings — we create living, evolving spaces that continue to inspire and reflect contemporary life for the academic community of TUS.
Journal Article by BDP Architects for Open House Dublin 2025
Photos by Nick Caville and Kate-Bowe O’Brien
