This Cork City district has been transformed into a thriving design hub

Cork offers a design hub just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre, writes Carol O’Callaghan

Luciana Altoni at Potteria at 100, Douglas Street, Cork. Paint your own pottery. Pictures: Larry Cummins

A trip along Cork City’s MacCurtain Street reveals a thriving hospitality scene with growing numbers of cafés, restaurants, wine bars and takeaways. But back in the heyday of the Celtic Tiger, it was a highly desirable destination for design and interiors, something sorely lacking in the city centre today. Or so I thought.

Hidden just a few minutes’ walk away near the south channel of the Lee is historic Douglas Street, once a mix of spick and span homes and shops but which fell into decline in the 1990s as city-centre living lost its appeal.

Over recent years, however, it has been quietly polishing itself up and attracting creative enterprises and institutions, from design to the decorative arts, with some behemoths like UCC’s Cork Centre for Architectural Education making its presence felt with its shiny, contemporary design, and, in contrast, the venerable historic convent and grounds of the Nano Nagle Centre with its award-winning museum.

On a smaller scale, but firmly established, is Cork Flower Studio where bouquets are elevated to an art form.

Café Moly, with its micro-roastery and barista academy, is just one of several pitstops and the local art scene is in the limelight right now as residents will have spotted celebrity architect Hugh Wallace strolling around the neighbourhood on his visits to the Victorian townhouse and shopfront owned by artist Cora Murphy.

Luciana Altoni at Potteria at 100, Douglas Street, Cork.

The property is one of the renovation projects to feature in the current series of The Great House Revival now screening on RTÉ One on Sunday nights, and it’s the artist’s home and art studio combined, a throwback to the tradition of living above the shop.

Just six months ago a studio of a different kind opened its doors on the corner of Douglas Street and Rutland Street in what was once a launderette. Potteria, a pottery painting hub, has been bringing an interactive artistic and craft experience to the locality since — and is also ideal if you’re looking for a housewarming or engagement gift or item for your own home with a personal creative imprint. I came across it by sheer chance while trying to park my car on Douglas Street in January, noticing what I thought was a brightly lit shop packed with people at 7.30pm on a Wednesday evening.

A quick nosy in the window revealed everyone painting pottery while eating snacks and sipping drinks and looking like they were having fun.

Patrons painting pottery at Potteria at 100, Douglas Street, Cork.

It turns out Potteria is the creation of Luciana Altoni, who moved here from Argentina in 2023 with her husband Ehud and daughter Amanda, 3. “I always had it in the back of my mind to do something by myself and had helped a friend in Argentina set up her pottery workshop,” says Luciana. “I thought it would be good in Cork; something to do indoors because of the weather, so I went to Berlin to learn how to do it.”

Bookings for tables are brisk where you or a group of friends get to pick a piece of pottery from a large selection of plates, mugs, bowls, vases and pet bowls, with some pieces geared towards children, and seasonal pieces available for Christmas, Halloween and Easter. “You have your table for two hours,” says Luciana. “You can pick up to six colours for your piece and we give you an explanation. We also have pictures on the tables and on our social media to give you inspiration.”

Sean Buckley collects his fired pottery from Potteria at 100, Douglas Street, Cork. Paint your own pottery.

Prices vary for the session depending on your chosen piece of pottery, starting at €14 for something small, up to €60 for a platter. “A painted vase makes a nice gift or a serving plate for a special occasion, a set of mugs or a tile for the number of your house. I did pasta plates for my own house,” says Luciana.

Kelly Gleeson and Laura Maquieira at Potteria.

For those of us feeling inept with a paintbrush, Luciana is so encouraging that when we come back to pick up our piece two weeks later after it’s been fired, it looks closer to a masterpiece than anticipated. “You don’t need to be artistic at all,” says Luciana. “The important thing is to go with the flow. We have stencils and stamps and tools and techniques to help you. We get all ages coming in. We’ve just had girls come in to paint mugs for their boyfriends for Valentine’s Day.”

Instagram.com/potteria.ie