Congratulations to Ciarán for winning the 2026 Award for Circular Living Advocate from www.circular.ie yesterday. The event at Visual Carlow was heartwarming, bringing together evidence of all the effort being made to challenge wasteful behaviours by groups and individuals across Ireland.
It was especially nice to hear the judges' comments on why Ciarán won the award:
"The judges selected Ciaran, because he is working in a space that is so important in terms of the built environment and circularity. Ciarán’s work goes beyond the traditional boundaries of architectural practice, driving change through policy, research, creativity and public campaigning. His work on the Demolition Take Down project challenged the industry bias towards demolition with an eight metre high structure illustrating the amount of waste generated by the construction industry. The Exhibit A exhibition highlighted the risks of building new over renovation or adaptation. He shares his findings widely, contributing to an international dialogue on the future of our built environment. The judges were particularly struck by his work in presenting a topic that is not easily translated to the public and by his strong national and international impact."
Hearing these words and seeing the exhibition developing at Visual Carlow gives the team at Demolition Take Down the courage of our convictions to continue challenging our colleagues in the construction industry to resist the current demolish & replace culture, and to treat architecture as a form of material stewardship rather than a cycle of consumption and demolition.
Our thanks to all of the people who have collaborated with us over the 3 years since we started this project. We look forward to our partnership with the School of Architecture, Building and Environment at TU Dublin and the cross-departmental support from Fingal County Council as we seek to transform circularity in construction from an abstract principle into a local reality in Balbriggan.
