PLANNING has been secured to transform a historic laundry building into a research and design hub at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).
The plans will see the redevelopment of the former Laundry Building on Pennywell Road, located at the TUS Clare Street Campus, home to Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD).
The development provides for the conversion of the former laundry building into a modern research facility, including upgrading of existing external finishes, roof finish replacements, and reinstatement of a flat roof and installation of new windows.
Jimmy Browne, TUS COO, has welcomed the decision, saying: “The redevelopment will enable TUS to continue expanding its education and research capacity while respecting and repuporsing an important part of Limerick’s built heritage.”
The redevelopment supports the establishment of the Forge Design Factory (FDF), Ireland’s first interdisciplinary design and learning hub, and part of a global network of 40 design factories.
This project also forms part of a wider initiative developed through Forge Design Factory, a collaboration between TUS, University of Limerick, Limerick City and County Council, Tipperary and Clare County Councils, and ICBE.
The site was part of the Good Shepherd Convent and served as a Magdalene laundry from 1842 until 1982.
Professor Anthony Caleshu, the Dean of LSAD, said the building’s history will be preserved with “sensitive respect for the history of the site paramount to its redevelopment as a design factory” that will help to “support a new generation of design innovators in the Mid West”.