M E S H A R C H I T E C T S
Grade 1 Conservation and Contemporary Design Architects
69 Middle Abbey Street,
Dublin D01 P5Y4
01 563 9021
Market house renovation and extension, Naas.
The extension and refurbishment of this Protected Structure Market House adjacent to the Grand Canal Basin in Naas will provide a catalyst for the improvement of a large pedestrianized area, as well as creating a high quality bar, restaurant and space for outdoor markets. The proposed redevelopment of the Naas Market House as a Restaurant and Bar received full planning permission from Naas Town Council in 2009. The current proposals for the building would reinstate an appealing feature building in the centre of the Harbour Area. The Market House remains the only building in the area with the potential to take on that role again.
The design included the addition of a sensitive rear extension to the original Market House, which will be fully renovated and reinstated to open the original arcaded openings at ground floor. The front garden will be redeveloped as a semi-public landscaped space for dining, markets and informal concerts.
The project has considerable potential to promote the redevelopment of the wider Canal-Harbour Area through the attraction of ancillary businesses and activity to the surrounding lanes and streets. This is a stated objective of the Town Development Plan. The Current Town Development Plan undertakes to prepare a Local Area Plan for the Canal-Harbour Area.
That potential is for a revitalized and vibrant 'Town Quarter' whose invaluable character and charm would be provided by its links to the town's past through its Canal, Market House, other Protected Structures, and its Lanes, Streets and Spaces. The current proposal for the Market House would protect the building with a viable use and sensitive rear extension, which would allow the original building regain its previous grandeur and status.
The old Market House, standing adjacent to the Royal Canal Harbour in Naas, is a significant historic structure. It is clear that it was built around 1800 and followed a common pattern. The earliest depiction of the Market House is found on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. The map of Naas was surveyed in 1837 and published in 1838.
No early images have been found that show the market as originally built, however a close examination of its surviving fabric has shown that it consisted of a largely arcaded ground floor, with two large rooms above. Its five-bay primary elevation was well proportioned and embellished with dressed limestone stringcourses and a central gable.
Successive alterations through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries gradually obscured the original fenestration and overall appearance of the market house, by filling in its open arcades, and through the insertion of domestic internal partitions and chimneys. The Market House was recorded by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, (Reg. No. 11814001) and rated as having Regional Significance by the recorder.
The Market House would once have been a building of considerable importance to Naas town and its wide hinterland. The Royal Canal functioned as an essential conduit for the supply and 'export' of goods. The activity within and around the Market House would have been considerable. A landmark building of this significance would have supported many more ancillary businesses around the Harbour Area. The Market House was the only imposing example of 'Architecture' in the Harbour, It remains an important element of the built heritage of Naas.
Credits:Mesh Architects - Tom McGimsey, Paul Mulhern
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