DCC Receives RIAI Silver Medal For Henrietta St Project

Dublin City Council (DCC) has received the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) Silver Medal for Conservation and Restoration for its 14 Henrietta St project for the period 2017-2019.

This award recognised projects of 'exceptional merit' and is awarded several years after completion so that the success of the building can be confirmed by the passage of time.

Opened to the public in 2018, the 14 Henrietta St museum serves as a social history museum, highlighting the daily life of Dublin’s North Inner City from 1877 to the late 1970s when it functioned as a tenement building. The museum includes restored rooms on the basement, ground, and first floors, providing insights into life during the 18th and 20th centuries.


The extensive conservation and refurbishment work that has been carried out has returned this magnificent building to the people of Dublin

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, said:

"I want to congratulate Dublin City Council on this prestigious award. They and visitors alike have been able to visit and experience this unique social history museum, since it opened to the public in 2018. Its enduring success is a testament to the quality of the building’s conservation and the unique approach taken by the City Council to the interpretation of the history of the house and the families who once lived there.

"This is the third major architectural prize awarded to the 14 Henrietta Street project,” said Charles Duggan, Heritage Officer with Dublin City Council. “In 2018 it won two RIAI awards, Best Conservation Project and Best overall project nationally. The Silver Medal for Conservation is a wonderful recognition of the City Council’s work to save, restore No.14 and create the museum there over a ten-year period guided by the Henrietta Street Conservation Plan and by Shaffrey Architects, and their team."

Visitors to 14 Henrietta St can explore the house's history over three floors, experiencing rooms from different time periods, ranging from the late 1740s to the 1970s when it stopped being a tenement.

The last Dublin City Council project to be awarded the Silver Medal for Conservation was City Hall, which won for the time period 1999 – 2001.