Galway City Council has been shortlisted for an Age Friendly Award
Pictured at the Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement awards 2024 are: Leonard Cleary ,Chief Executive, Galway City Council; Frank Meehan, Housing, Galway City Council; Deputy Mayor of the City of Galway, Cllr Níall McNelis; Sinéad Johnstone, Housing, Galway City Council; and Eilis O’Donnell, Project Architect, O’Briain Beary Architects.
Galway City Council has announced they are proud to be shortlisted for an award in the Housing Category at the National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards.
The shortlist was announced on November 7 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dublin. They were chosen because of ‘An Cliathán’ – a purpose-built development for older people.
An Cliathán, which was a project of OCC Construction, integrates modern design with principles of accessibility that support aging in place.
The development includes features such as barrier-free entrances, accessible transport links, communal spaces, and a focus on green areas.
The new 15 unit social housing scheme is located on the Old Monivea Road in Galway City, and consists of 12 apartments, specifically intended for older people, and three bungalows aimed for families with special needs.
Leonard Cleary, Chief Executive of Galway City Council said: “Being shortlisted under the Housing category for these awards is a testament to Galway City Council’s commitment to designing and delivering housing that caters to the needs of older adults while promoting intergenerational inclusivity.”
An Cliathán is also a sustainable, energy-efficient development that aligns with Galway City’s broader goals of creating resilient, climate-smart communities for the future.
The Age-Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards, organised by the Age Friendly Ireland program, celebrate initiatives and projects that make a positive difference in communities by ensuring older people can live active, healthy, and independent lives.
This project compliments the Galway City Age Friendly Programme which aims to improve the services and facilities that Galway City’s older people have identified as being important to them.
The new development was also recently recognised at the Irish Construction Excellence Awards 2024, where OCC Construction won best project in the ‘Residential up to €5M’ category.
The design team for this project consisted of O’Briain Beary Architects, DBFL Consulting Engineers and Varming Consulting Engineering.
