Athlone Community College has scooped a top national award for the design of the new building at its Retreat Road site.
The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI ) in its 2015 Irish Architecture Awards has announced that Athlone Community College is Ireland’s Best Educational Building.
The building was designed by McGarry Ní Éanaigh Architects and was one of 16 award winners.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Wood Quay, Dublin City Council offices. Among the other project winners were the Restoration of St Mel’s Cathedral, Longford; Merrion Cricket Pavilion; and Pharmacy Apartment, Clonmel.
President of the RIAI, Robin Mandal, said, “We continue to see a very high standard of winners year-on-year. It is important that this architectural excellence is continually promoted to show the quality that good architecture can bring to our built landscape.
“Good architecture takes commitment and we can see the value of place-making, driven by quality of life, community, and health-led agenda. The projects in this year’s awards continue to show the value and long-term investment that exists when high quality architecture is delivered when an architect is involved.”
Chairperson of the judging panel, Ali Grehan, said, “The jury was pleased with the broad range of submissions that were received this year. It is gratifying to see the quality of the buildings produced every year continues to increase, so does public interest in good design, as we can see from the strong response to the Public Choice Award.”
