Four properties in the town will feature as part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Open House Dublin in October. The free festival of architecture, from October 12-20, will see over 200 events taking place across the city and county. And Balbriggan will be at the centre of the festival, with four architecturally acclaimed venues in the locality among those throwing open their doors to the public. Among them will be The Lark, the country’s newest, most innovative, entertainment venue. The Lark is this year’s winner of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Public Choice Award – voted the public’s favourite building. It will open to the public for tours on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20. Other featured venues in Balbriggan are Ardgillan Castle (October 19), High Street Balbriggan (October 20) and Open Studios (October 20).
As part of Open House, artist Kim Jenkinson will host children’s art workshops at Balbriggan Public Library on Saturday, October 12. More information on Open House at: https://openhousedublin.com/ Meanwhile, UCD architecture students visited Balbriggan on Friday last to view the progress and plans of the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Programme. The transformational project is aimed at creating a high quality public amenity and premier visitor destination to revitalise Ireland’s youngest town. The €50million 2019-2030 Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Programme aims to create a more attractive, connected place where people want to live, work, visit and do business. Key milestones have been reached as work continues at pace on the transformational €15million Balbriggan Quay Street and Harbour project. The students also learned of works planned for the former RNLI Boathouse, the transformation of 6a-14 Bridge Street and a creative hub at 2-4 Dublin Street.
The ambitious vision contained in the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Programme was the result of an historic community engagement in 2019 which saw more than 25% of residents outline their preferences for the future of the town Dr David Begg, chair of the Our Balbriggan Leadership Group, said the visit was tangible evidence of the positive impacts of the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Programme. “Its purpose was to bring to life the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Programme,” he said. “There was both a visual learning experience with follow up presentations on how the ambitious socio-economic and architectural rejuvenation of Balbriggan has been shaped by the community and brought to life by Fingal County Council.”
