Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) has received planning permission to convert two historic structures in Limerick City into education and research facilities, advancing a campus expansion programme that includes intervention within a protected medieval site, as reported by the Limerick Post.

The first approval covers a building on land within the curtilage of Fanning's Castle, a late 16th-century tower house listed as a protected structure, forming part of TUS's George's Quay campus. The scheme, led by the TUS School of Art and Design, will deliver office space, computer workstations, and learning areas, with new street frontages designed to reactivate the existing courtyard.

The second approval, secured last December, relates to the former laundry building on Pennywell Road at the TUS Clare Street Campus, home to the Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD). The building will be converted into an education and research facility by TUS and VHA Architects, with works including the upgrade of existing external finishes, replacement of existing roof finishes, reinstatement of flat roof lights, and new windows facing Pennywell Road.

The Pennywell Road redevelopment aims to reimagine and reuse the abandoned structure as a highly flexible maker space, accommodating creative workshops, prototyping facilities, and industry-linked events to develop and showcase new ideas. The facility will become the Forge Design Factory, an interdisciplinary product design and learning hub uniting students, teachers, researchers, and industry, and part of a global network of 40 design factories.

The project is a collaboration between TUS, University of Limerick, Limerick City and County Council, Tipperary and Clare County Councils, and ICBE. The aim is to cultivate a connected creative ecosystem that links academic research with design and creative-industry SMEs.

Jimmy Browne, chief operations officer of TUS, said: "This planning approval marks another important step in the ongoing development of our Limerick city campuses. The redevelopment will enable TUS to continue expanding its education and research capacity while respecting and repurposing an important part of Limerick's built heritage."

Professor Anthony Caleshu, dean of LSAD, said that sensitive respect for the history of the site was paramount to its redevelopment as a design factory that would support a new generation of designers. The Pennywell Road site formed part of the Good Shepherd Convent and operated as a Magdalene laundry from 1842 until 1982.

Explore the full planning details and project background here.