The Lower House, Grangegorman, Dublin 7

It won’t wear another winter well — Colm Redmond’s (FKP) summary to Dublin City Council’s conservation team in late 2018 rendered in cold relief the impetus to redevelop the remains of Grangegorman’s former Richmond District Lunatic Asylum (c.1815). The imposing quadrangle – over the course of its two centuries – oscillated uncomfortably between innovative origins and subsequent overcrowding before a programme of site clearance in the mid-1980s left only the shell of its southern side. Since named the Lower House, it was stabilised by the GDA in 2015. By 2018 the GDA team had devised a project to incrementally renew the structure as a physical and social asset for our stakeholder, TU Dublin. It is now a bustling home to the University’s students’ union, sports, societies & music practice studios.