WATCH: Old building materials getting new life from Limerick’s Opera Square

OLD building materials are getting a new lease of life thanks to Limerick's Opera Square.

Thanks to a new programme, over 1,000 tonnes of stone and brick materials alone that would otherwise have been destined for landfill have been salvaged and are being put to good use.

The programme is being overseen by the Southern Region Waste Management Office and in conjunction with Opera Square developer Limerick Twenty Thirty and demolition and works contractor John Sisk & Son.

In addition to the retention of 16 buildings deemed to be of historical importance on the Opera site, conservation is also stretching to diverting huge volumes of materials from the demolition programme over the past 12 months into other projects elsewhere in the city and county.

Among the projects the materials have since been diverted to are the Foynes Flying Boat museum, the Canal Harbour Building and bridge and old stone wall repairs around the county.  

Significant volumes also have been diverted to training programmes for young stone masons, which has been supported by the Economic and Social Intervention Fund through Limerick City and County Council Regeneration programme.

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It’s not just brick and stone that’s getting a new lease of life as other materials include palisade fence panels, which have been sent to Richmond Rugby Club; the metal gate and stone pillars from the entrance to the Granary Building, which are currently with the Civic Trust and items such as the historic limestone door case at 6 Rutland Street and cobble stones retained on site for future use. 

Philippa King, Coordinator with the Southern Region Waste Management Office said that recycling and reuse programme has the potential to be a template for major projects involving large-scale demolition.

Ms King said: "Outlets for construction and demolition waste are limited, so we had to explore alternatives to waste creation and did this from the very outset with the Opera pre-demolition audit.

"The focus has ultimately been about diverting as much from waste as possible and we were not just talking about reuse alone but also repurpose and remanufacturing as well. 

"Our goal was to maximise resource recovery on site as the buildings were demolished and I think we’ve achieved that. A key objective for Limerick today is to embrace international environmental best practice on the circular built environment and what’s happening at Opera is a great example of that."