Sometimes the memory on the landscape can be negative and traumatic, and an adaptive reuse of a building can achieve the result of leaving an important part of our history intact, while simultaneously defusing the intensity of its negative associations. A very good example of such transformative possibilities is a project for the former Letterfrack Industrial School in Connemara.

Designed by O’ Donnell + Tuomey Architects the new addition to the reformatory school building is a Furniture College, a constituent part of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, which is the National Centre of Excellence for Furniture Design and Wood Technology.

It also is home to Connemara West, a community owned and managed rural development company, which works to improve life for local people and includes facilities such as a creche, community radio, and office services.  

Open on a ‘first come’ basis.