Cork's iconic Butter Exchange to be redeveloped
The former Shandon Butter Market is a protected structure in the Shandon area of Cork city. Picture: Eddie O'Hare.
The redevelopment of an iconic Cork building has been approved by city planners.
Recreate Shandon CLG submitted plans in April seeking permission for works at the former Shandon Butter Market, a protected structure in the Shandon area of Cork city.
The works include a change of use from a craft centre to a technology and enterprise centre, including 140sq m of new accommodation, the adaption and upgrade of the building fabric, and conservation works to the building itself.
Energy efficiency upgrades are also proposed.
The building was developed in 1769 on the site of an outdoor butter market, which had been operating since the 1730s.
It became one of the most important commercial centres in Cork for the next 200 years, but trade began to decline before the building eventually closed in 1924.
It has been used as a hat factory and craft hub at times since but has remained fully closed since 2008.
Planners have now cleared the scheme to proceed.
