King Johns Castle
We were commissioned by Limerick DAC to prepare a masterplan for Limerick’s most iconic landmark, King John’s Castle and its immediate surrounds.
Location
Limerick, Ireland
Completed
2026
Client
Discover Limerick
Our project seeks to unlock the castle’s potential to play a key role in the cultural and economic life of the city. The project includes work to conserve and enhance the historic fabric of the castle, work to improve accessibility for visitors and a masterplan of the wider area around the castle, in the heart of Limerick city.
Preserving this valuable heritage asset with reversible and future-proof solutions is central to our approach. We have identified historic parts of the castle which are not currently used which could enrich the visitors experience. The project will reintroduce the Great Hall, the Bastion and the Gates. A new gateway entrance building will bring much needed temporary exhibition and event facilities to the castle in order to optimise operation and financial sustainability.
The visitor experience has been one of the key motivations to overcome challenges with the historic fabric which we want to sensitively restore while making the castle accessible to everyone. Today, the majority of spaces within the historic castle structure are inaccessible and support facilities are missing or outdated with today’s expectations and standards. We are working closely with a multi-disciplinary team ensuring Conservation, Architecture and Interpretation are supporting each other and bringing forward the ‘Castle as the Star’ while taking a sensitive approach to conservation and existing archaeology.
Additional to the improvement to the Castle, we worked with Limerick City County Council to prepare the Framework Plan of the wider medieval Walled Town as part of the Thrive funding scheme. Our masterplan provides strategic thinking and defines a roadmap for transforming King John’s Castle and the area around it, into a world-class, must-see, visitor attraction bringing conservation, architecture and interpretation together with operation and business planning.
Sustainability
One of our core values is improving the sustainability of the buildings that we work with. Reducing the energy use of historic buildings is quite challenging but through our experience we have learned how to get the balance right between reducing energy use and preserving historic fabric. Conserving and reusing old buildings is in itself sustainable because often reusing buildings produces less carbon than making a new building.
History
King John’s Castle in Limerick, Ireland is a notable heritage building. It is a well-preserved 1200 century Norman fortification, and a stronghold around which the city of Limerick grew to become what it is today. It played a significant role in forming the city, in a strategic location, right on the bank of Ireland’s longest River, the River Shannon.
The castle has been added to at various times during its life, some more successfully than others. Our project seeks to preserve and use the historic fabric while making adjustments to newer parts to improve the accessibility and sustainability of the castle.
Engagement
As an important public building, we see it as vital that the local community and experts are properly engaged and consulted. We are managing stakeholder engagement which includes the local community, National Monuments, archaeologists, conservation, planning and tourism bodies, both locally and nationally. Their input is recorded and incorporated into the design where possible.
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