Shauna Harkin

shharkin@hotmail.com Website

Description: The Celbridge Mill building is a central feature of the township of Celbridge in county Kildare, dating back as far as 1785. The building has strong ties to the Connolly family, known for their involvement with Castletown house located only 1.5 kilometres away from the Mill.

Celbridge Community Centre Ltd. have been operating and maintaining this historical landmark in north Kildare as The Mill we know today since the early 1980ʼs. Today the centre accommodates 24 business units, meeting, leisure and educational rooms, a sports centre complete with gym, sauna, and steam room.

However, the building has become slightly run-down in recent years, wasting the potential that this stunning landmark in the centre of the town has. For this reason, I reimagined and redesigned the Celbridge Mill as a lively and vivacious event venue and hotel, bringing life back into the building. The venue includes various event spaces and bars to cater for all events from weddings to birthday parties to corporate events. These events are catered for in various ways, with the inclusion of an event-planning space, dressing rooms for wedding events and generously sized suites to accommodate guests. A restaurant, bar and cafe also cater towards the people who live locally as a place to relax and meet with friends or family.

The space is designed with events in mind, with the colour scheme deriving from the most popular colours used in wedding events in recent years. The design also refers back to the original building and its architecture, particularly the many different types and shapes of window that can be seen around the building. These windows were the source of inspiration for the main structure and shapes used throughout the event venue and were the driving force behind the concept.