RIAI CPD: Vacant Historic Properties – ‘Over the Shop’ by Geraldine O’Brien MRIAI

This webinar will be recorded for future delivery via RIAI Digital Chalk.

Balancing Conservation, Adaptive Reuse and Energy Retrofit

The RIAI will host a live CPD webinar examining the conservation-led regeneration of the “over the shop” vacant historic properties by Geraldine O'Brien MRIAI.  

Course Aim

The aim of the course is to introduce working with Conservation-led strategies for the adaptive reuse and energy retrofit of vacant spaces over shops in historic buildings.

Learning Outcomes

The session will explore the challenges architects face in balancing heritage fabric conservation, adaptive reuse, and energy retrofit within the context of current Irish policy, funding mechanisms, and regulatory requirements. And presents case studies highlighting the role of hygrothermal analysis, compatible material specification and appropriate detailing in urban heritage regeneration.

Speaker

Geraldine O’Brien MRIAI is an Architect based in rural Ireland with over 30 years’ experience across architecture, interior architecture and architectural technology in Ireland and Australia. She is the founder of Design Sense Architecture + Conservation, and her practice integrates intuitive space planning, building science, innovative detailing, passive house principles and Grade III conservation expertise to bridge modern architecture with the sustainable conservation of historic buildings. She holds a Master’s in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) from TU Dublin (first-class honours); her research focused on the categorisation of architectural typology, the energy retrofit and hygrothermal performance of early 20th-century mass-concrete cottages in County Kerry, and continues to inform her research-led practice.