Hometown Architect invites communities and local architects in Mayo to reanimate town centres

As communities around Ireland face challenges like vacancy, dereliction, traffic management and depopulation, the Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) is calling for local architects and community stakeholders to propose collaborative projects to regenerate their town or village centre, including in Mayo.

The project proposals are being called for under a new round of the Hometown Architect initiative that has opened for applications. Hometown Architect is a key initiative of the IAF’s Reimagine placemaking programme.

This is the second round of Hometown Architect, whose focus is supporting small and medium towns outside of major urban centres, including in Mayo. Three projects out of the total number submitted from across Ireland will be selected for development funding of €10,000 each plus mentoring and practical support from the IAF’s experienced placemaking team.

Project proposals for Hometown Architect 2024 must be made jointly by community stakeholders and an architect with a local connection. Proposals should focus on issues of particular concern, opportunities or innovations for town centre regeneration in line with the government’s Town Centre First Policy. This policy aims to make town centres across Ireland viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit.

Submissions will be assessed by a panel of experts, including the IAF team, Town Centre First Policy specialists and independent experts.

Hometown Architect 2024 builds on the successful 2023 round of Hometown Architect, which is already supporting a collaborative project in Belmullet by architect Mark Ruddy and community stakeholders Erris Chamber of Commerce and Belmullet Tidy Towns.

Belmullet is a planned 19th-century service town to a wide rural region, with public spaces that became car-dominated from the 20th century, including the waterfront and town squares. An artistic intervention, an installation in the Town Square as part of the Belmullet Festival, surveys and workshops have engaged residents in a conversation to envision how the town’s public spaces can be rejuvenated to better serve the community.

Hometown Architect is a catalyst for active citizenship in the built environment, encouraging creative connections between community groups and architecture professionals to deliver ground-up implementation of the national Town Centre First Policy.

Announcing the opening of the second round of Hometown Architect, director of the Irish Architecture Foundation, Emmett Scanlon, said: “As an organisation with a national focus and remit, Hometown Architect is a key initiative in the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Reimagine placemaking strand of work. I am very pleased that we can launch a new call for a second round of proposals. The IAF is committed to supporting and enabling communities and architects to use their local knowledge, experience and ambition to transform their towns into sustainable places to live while fostering and protecting civic pride.

“The IAF is dedicated to enabling and supporting local architects and communities to engage with the national Town Centre First Policy and other national policies and initiatives focused on the future of towns in Ireland. We value our continued collaboration with and value the continued support of our funders without which the IAF could not have such local impact right across Ireland.”

Also commenting, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, said: “My Department of Rural and Community Development shares responsibility for the national Town Centre First Policy. A key aim of this policy is to enable local communities and local businesses to be key drivers of development as well as central to the reimagining and planning of their towns for the future.

“I am delighted to welcome the second call for applications to the Hometown Architect fund. Projects like these set the scene for others attempting similar focus on vacancy and dereliction in our rural towns and bringing new life and focus back to our town centres, empowering people to affect change at a local level.

“The IAF’s Reimagine programme, with its focus on placemaking, further enhances the Town Centre First approach and the work of local groups towards making our towns attractive places to live, work and visit."

The deadline for submissions under Hometown Architect 2024 is January 19, 2024, via an online application form on www.ReimaginePlace.ie/open-call, where further details about the submission process are also available. The three successful projects will be announced in February 2024.

Two online information sessions about the Hometown Architect initiative for interested communities will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, November 21, and from 12 to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13. To register, visit the Reimagine website.

Hometown Architect is part of the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Reimagine placemaking programme and is funded by the Arts Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development, with additional support to the IAF from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.