Max HeyraudA long-vacant section of Dublin’s O’Connell Street is set to take on a new life, with 21 affordable artist studios due to open above the Asics store later this year.
For a number of years, the building’s upper floors have been vacant. Now, as part of a one-year pilot project involving Dublin City Council, real estate investor Mel Sutcliffe and Visual Artists Ireland, the space is being converted into artist studios following a two-year restoration.
Studios will be offered at rents ranging from €200 to €300 a month, creating relatively low-cost workspace in the heart of Dublin city centre.
The building’s owner, asset management firm Quanta Capital, has worked with the council and Visual Artists Ireland on the project. Sutcliffe, the company’s founder, said the scheme was intended to demonstrate how vacant upper-floor space could contribute to the wider regeneration of O’Connell Street.
Applications for the studio spaces are now open through Visual Artists Ireland. The initial programme will run for 12 months. According to VAI, artists taking part in the pilot will receive priority when opportunities to continue beyond the trial period arise.
The organisation also says the pilot will eventually feed into an open process to identify a provider to manage the studios under a longer-term business model.
