UP to 3,000 people visited public buildings and private houses in the inaugural Open House festival highlighting local architecture in the city over the weekend.

The event, which took place in association with the Irish Architecture Foundation, has been hailed as a resounding success. People came in their droves to experience some of Galway’s examples of quality design – in fact the organisers are already considering organizing an extended event next year.

“We are thrilled with the public response and enthusiastic engagement with Galway’s first architectural event,” said Patrick McCabe, Chairman of Open House Galway’s Steering Group and an award winning architect with Simon J Kelly Architects.

“Many people visited not just one building but as many as they could fit in and were delighted with the quality and variety of design presented while the architects who conducted the tours were also pleased to get feedback from the public.

“It’s obvious that there’s a demand for this event in Galwayand it is our intention to expand the programme for next year to incorporate further elements to ensure the public remain interested and engaged with our built environment. The tremendous success of Galway’s first Open House has proved that the public enjoy and appreciate quality architecture design.

“There was a great architectural buzz about the place and it was a morale boost for architects in this current climate. There was a great tour on the NUIG campus on Sunday where 200 people participated, the Marine Institute was particularly popular with 350 visits over the weekend, as was the new Born development on the river, and the Mutton Island Lighthouse,” he said.

Fifty volunteers helped marshal people in and out of the public and private buildings on show over the weekend – all the private home visits had to be booked online for security reasons.

Almost 300 people attended the opening in the Centre Pier Building at Galway Docks on Friday evening, where Swedish architects JM – Konrad Milton and Carl Jagnefait scooped the Centre Pier, Galway Harbour Ideas Competition with their entry entitled ‘The Sky Pier – Unity in Duality’ while Galwegians Laura O’Brien and Faela Guiden won the student category.

The prize fund was...