Brewery Site

One area of concern that we have looked at is Dunnes Car Park, we already have a number of colossal car parks in the small city of Kilkenny. The Car park is a great amenity as it means more parking in Kilkenny to match a growing population and urban expansion, but by doing this, we take a significant amount of land away from the people. Sure, people can go park there, but by doing this, we cut one side of the river off from the other. Placing in big buildings at the dunnes car park site would ruin the possibility of a large public park by the river. Not a linear park, but a real park area with ponds and water features. It would encourage walking and cycling in the city and promote development towards the old mart site because people would come down to the river and beyond which is important as at the moment the mart site is quite disconnected as it is from the other side of the river. Looking out from Kilkenny Castle along the river the view would look incredible if there was dense trees and vegetation. It would be a setting befitting of a picture, it will also maintain the current walking links around the city keeping the current connection with the Mart side of the river, it will create new walking routes and it will also make Kilkenny a much greener place. It will also give us the ideal space for a number of statues and art sculptures, something that as a city that prides itself on heritage, arts and crafts, we are lacking in. Our proposal is to underground the multi-storey car park and to put a public park at ground level. Travelators and escalators would be used to enter the car park. These could be put internally and externally of Dunnes. Would this be more expensive? Yes. Would it be more time consuming? Certainly. Would it be worth it? Most definetly. This idea, while being more expensive and taking longer to construct will easily outweigh these negatives in the long term as it will put green spaces first, something that was brought up again and again in the ' The Brewery: Re-visioning'. This is an idea that people want to see happen, they want more greenery, they want to walk around Kilkenny. To have the car park above ground is unnecessary and unwanted, why build something that is either of these? Below are three images of our 3D model of a park which we loaded into Google Earth.

3D Model 1:

3D Model 2:

3D Model 3:

We also feel that more boating activitives and water activities need to be promoted and encouraged and that boats on the river should be embraced. We need to put boats on our river to open us up to new types of tourism with school tours, boating trips, etc. The river at the moment is lifeless, every now and then you see the odd kayak or canoe but what we need is boats going up and down the river every day. It improve Kilkenny's offering hugely as a city. Below, we have included an image of boats along the river outside Dunnes Car Park but we think this should stretch the length of the river up to the Brewery site. Also included is an image of water sports in action on the River. To have a river and not to use seems incredibly idiotic, the river must be utilised to it's full potential so as to truly achieve Kilkenny's true potential and create a better city.

Boats on the River:

Putting housing on the site should not happen. The housing will be very expensive even though funding has been provided. The money would be much better spent improving the lanes of Kilkenny which have seriously deteriorated. They are boarded up and desolate. They need paint, plants and passion. They currently look very bad and any tourist who walks down these lanes will find an unpleasant place of broken windows, boarded up windows and doors, missing features, tired and dated looking exteriors and vacant houses. Improving these houses would meet our housing needs and put people back in the heart of the city without the need to change it. It would mean that we can cater for more housing needs as refurbishing houses is less expensive than building them, so we could do more. Also putting housing in this area in the brewery cuts off part of what could be part space and makes it narrower, not giving it the same feel of a secluded walk surrounded by dense vegetation that at this area, it should be.

What if we knocked the houses at the end of Green Street? Currently when you walk the Nore Linear Park walk, there is currently a restriction on how far you walk and it is often disappointing to walk the two kilometres and then meet a sudden dead end. If we knocked these houses we could finally link all the walks in the city. We could knock a small portion of the wall coming up to Greensbridge and then there would be direct access from the walk through the Brewery site along the new park and garden areas that are being put along the river. This would make for an enjoyable walk to work for anyone living on that side of town and would possibly encourage more to do so. It would mean more people taking this walk and also once again, encouraging more people to walk. It would be an attractive walk for tourists to be able to cycle the huge stretch of walkway up and back along the river. It would most definitely improve Trails Kilkenny’s offering. This is an idea so simple yet in my opinion, one that would be incredibly effective and would easily offset all costs incurred to make it happen. This is the only change that needs to happen to allow walking the whole of the river walks and this needs to happen. Currently if you want to continue walking further beyond the nore linear park walk, you have to backtrack, walk through a street of a number of houses, walk on a bit, turn left at the lights, cross over Greensbridge, turn right, walk on a bit and then enter the peace park. Now tell me that if you were walking, that the walks aren’t disjointed. If we knock these houses, the directions become; walk across the road. If you wanted to enter the peace park, the directions are; cross over the bridge, turn right, walk on a bit and enter the peace park. Which simpler, leading to a better walking experience. At the very least the walled area beside it should be removed. Currently if you are anywhere in that area or coming out of the envisioned path along the envisioned linear park along the river from the brewery site, the nearest way to get to the Nore Linear Park is to walk out around towards a housing estate rather than walk straight onto it from metres away. You could stand there and not know that there is an incredible walk only a few strides away. There is no way of knowing about the walk if you happened been on it. You can’t see it an access it easily, which should be priority. This premises or at least part of it, needs to be demolished to properly connect walking routes with the Brewery site. You could walk straight across from Green Street seamlessly from the Nore Linear Walk to the new Brewery linear park. It would compliment both parks and finally make the Nore Linear Park open to tourists too, not just the residents of Kilkenny who know about it or live near it. Walking and cycling need to be at the centre of this project and if there are these long, beautiful walks spreading out from the brewery site, it would certainly encourage leisurely activity for tourists and the people of Kilkenny alike. This needs to happen. The Nore Linear Park will not be fully utilised and reach it’s full potential otherwise. It will not be fully connected to the rest of the city if this doesn’t happen. This is a small change that would have a major impact on how the parks along the river are used and by who they are used. This must happen.

What if we had a convention centre with an exhibition space? It would promote business in Kilkenny and would be able to cater from small to big. Would be multi purpose as it could hold shows, comedy, theatre, festivals, talks, meetings, gatherings, concerts, etc. but must interestingly it could also double as being used as a lecture hall, guaranteeing it’s use on a regular basis. It would not be a huge colossal building but could have meeting rooms, and could have large areas similar to the Watergate surrounded with seats that could have a partition of some sort between them to allow for big and small events. Also, it could possibly have an exhibition space for school competitions, open events, arts and crafts which Kilkenny prides itself on, pretty much any use. With the RDS in Dublin, the exhibition space has really helped the local economy around it as it draws in large crowds that then disperse after the event or during the event at lunch and pend their money. It would smaller than Cillin Hill which is fantastic but many people drive home after going to Cillin Hill as it is not in the city centre and they are close to the ring road. If we had an exhibition space it would really drive the economy in Kilkenny. Pictured below is a quick drawing of a potential design for a convention centre in Kilkenny.

Convention Centre:

What if the old weir was rebuilt? It would look spectacular and greatly add to the look of the river beneath Greens Bridge and the CAS bridge. You have to think of the senses planning. The sounds of gushing water would add peace and tranquility to the area. Natural sounds. It would also restore a piece of lost heritage. Much of it still remains.

The restoration of the Red Lion Inn needs to be a top priority of the Masterplan. It’s architectural value matches that of the Shee Alms House and it’s proximity to Rothe House makes it a sure stop for many tourists. The building should be repaired and used to promote heritage in the same way that the Shee Alms House promotes our tourism and heritage and the same way that Rothe House houses the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and many artefacts and stories of significance. Being on the Medieval Mile, developed properly, the Red Lion Inn could be a massive stopping point along the mile. One possible idea for it would be turn it into a Medieval tavern/inn/pub/restaurant similar to the The Hole In The Wall but it would have to have a unique offering to it as well. That should be very successful, tying in with our Medieval History while also offering something that currently Kilkenny have. Included below is a picture of it.

Red Lion Inn:

Encourage the construction and provide funding for the building of green roofs. Green roofs reduce energy costs and energy usage by insulating the roof of the building. They give colour to a building and give life  to otherwise dull environments. The roofs of buildings are particularly important to address in Kilkenny due to the round tower which overlooks them. It is noticeable that in Kilkenny City, birds are absent, but with green roofs wildlife is supported that is often destroyed by the creation of new buildings. With green roofs, habitats that have been destroyed on the ground are rebuilt on the roof resulting in no loss of a habitat. They also removed CO2 from the air, filter the air and add the smells of fresh air and plants to the city. They effectively reuse  water  to  grow themselves and are pleasant places to walk through and relax in. They are an efficient use of space as they can allow the roof of a building to be used as well as the rest of it. The plants purify the air and remove pollutants which stops water from becoming contaminated such as other things. These roofs also reduce run off of water and reduce the stress on drains and pipes during heavy downpours by absorbing the water rather than letting it run straight off the roof. This water will eventually be used up, run off, or evaporate but at a slower and safer rate that it doesn’t require heavy demands on the plumbing of the city. It also reduces sound pollution which is important in a city centre and studys show that a green roof is effective as ten centimetres of concrete meaning that it is much more cost efficient in it’s sound proofing. The cost of a green roof will be returned in just a few years due to the savings made on heat and energy bills and if funding is made available to install a green roof, the cost will be offset even quicker. There is also the benefit of sound reduction against rain as instead of rain hitting a hard surface, it is being absorbed by a soft surface and therefore there is much less sound. Kilkenny has the chance to pioneer such a move and put itself on the world stage with the Brewery Site handing us the opportunity to rebuild from the ground up.