Galway City Council has awarded Allies and Morrison a contract for urban planning and landscape architectural services on the Lombard Street Rejuvenation Project, a decision that matters to building and architecture professionals because it places a medieval streetscape around St Nicholas’s Church in the hands of an overseas design lead. Consideration was disclosed at almost €700,000.

Galway City Council is the client, delivering the scheme under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, and the work covers Lombard Street, Churchyard Street and Church Lane.

Allies and Morrison, a London architecture and urban design practice, has previously worked on projects involving the British Embassy in Dublin and Adamstown, and will be required to assemble a large multi-disciplinary team.

The council said the scheme is aligned with international best practice as well as the Galway City Development Plan 2023-2029, the Galway Transport Strategy and its Public Realm Strategy.

Previous artistic impressions showed an expanded market, broader pavements and additional greenery, and the design process is expected to involve consultation with stakeholders and the public.

The structural driver is public funding, with Galway City Council’s scheme page stating the project is delivered with the National Transport Authority and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.

For the sector, the timing matters because Galway Bay FM reported in July 2024 that the architect-led tender had been prepared, so the appointment follows more than two years later and shows the length of public realm procurement.

The same report said plans include extending the Saturday market into Mainguard Street, and Buildings of Ireland describes St Nicholas’s as the largest medieval parish church in use in Ireland, so the design must work around a significant heritage setting.

The broader implication for the sector is that council public realm commissions in historic centres are being led by architect-led teams that combine planning, landscape and heritage skills, with consultation expected to shape the design.

Source: Connacht Tribune / Galway City Council / Galway Bay FM / Buildings of Ireland