The award-winning Gardens International development in Limerick has added to its success with two new accolades.

Last week saw the project claim the Design Project of the Year at the KPMG Irish Independent Property Industry Excellent Awards 2019 as well as Architectural Project of the Year at the Irish Building & Design Awards 2019.

This €17.6 million project, the first completed from Limerick Twenty Thirty, was delivered over 18 months, mixing the architecture of the early 19th century Roches Hanging Gardens, which included roof-top gardens of exotic fruits; the Mercantile Building; the former General Post Office developed there a century later and a new build to the rear.

The Limerick Twenty Thirty team and architects on the project, Carr Cotter Naessens + Denis Byrne Architects, attended both events to accept the accolades.

Limerick Twenty Thirty CEO David Conway said: "Our mandate at Limerick Twenty Thirty is to transform disused sites in the heart of Limerick into dynamic engines of economic growth. However, a guiding principle we started out with and will stay true to as we press ahead on all our sites, is that we uphold the finest architectural traditions of the city.

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"These wins, not least the Property Industry Excellence Awards, are something we are hugely proud of because there’s such a high architectural bar set for Limerick, not least as a Georgian city, and the awards very loudly state that we are reaching it.

"There's a weight of architectural history on every project we take on. But the finished article we have delivered with our very first build, Gardens International, will give confidence and assurance to all who love Limerick's architecture dearly that it's in safe hands when it comes to Limerick Twenty Thirty. We really are overjoyed with this."

Louise Cotter, of Carr Cotter Naessens + Denis Byrne Architects, added: "Gardens International has been a labour of love for us. It was a challenging project because we had to integrate the historic structures of the old Hanging Gardens incorporating and editing all its layers and stories with a contemporary design for a sustainable workplace on the same site. We are satisfied that we have created something new and of lasting value for the continuing development and enrichment of Limerick city.

"These awards are the crowning glory for the project. Gardens International has effectively swept the boards and what a way to start the Limerick Twenty Thirty programme. It speaks volumes about the focus of both our own and Limerick Twenty Thirty's team that we have achieved so much together on the project."

(CM/JG)