Major plans for the regeneration of Kilkenny - including the development of a Knowledge and Business Quarter on the historic Smithwick's Brewery site in the centre of the city - were unveiled this week. Here architect Tony Reddy, of Reddy Architecture+Urbanism who drew up the masterplan for the site and who is passionate about the development of the city, outlines his vision for its future development.

The acquisition of the historic 13-acre Smithwick's Brewery site from Diageo by Kilkenny Borough and County Councils is hugely significant for Kilkenny. It presents us with a unique opportunity for the sensitive regeneration of the city centre, whilst at the same time driving economic development to ensure that Kilkenny flourishes into the future.

The unveiling of plans this week for a new Knowledge and Business Quarter on the site presents Kilkenny with a unique opportunity among Irish and European cities to create a modern space adjoining its medieval core, whilst enhancing its cultural heritage and improving its sustainability and allowing it to compete in the knowledge economy of the 21st Century.

Kilkenny has had a reputation since medieval times for the quality of its urbanism. Indeed the first Duke of Ormonde - from exile at the court of Louis XIV in Paris - brought to Ireland an appreciation of the importance of architecture and public spaces to the enhancement of our cities and towns. It was he who conceived the Parade in Kilkenny, the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham and Dublin's Liffey Quays.

The acquisition of the Smithwicks site now affords the citizens of Kilkenny the opportunity to achieve in the 21st Century what the Duke of Ormonde could not achieve in his lifetime - planning the city to address the River Nore.

Development of the site will allow us redress the balance in respect of lost opportunities of the past such as missing the Industrial Revolution, (a blessing in disguise), and not being seat to a University, (notwithstanding James II's grant of a charter to the University of St Canice in 1689). The site now presents the opportunity to accommodate a university or third level institute and a cluster of knowledge economy and social media companies. These uses will present Kilkenny with the opportunity to be a competitive city in the knowledge economy going into the future.

The location of the Smithwick's site in the medieval heart of the city will allow for the regeneration of the city economically and socially. It presents an opportunity to repair the fabric of the city and reinstate traditional streets and slipways

To maximise this opportunity the Kilkenny local authorities agreed to the drawing up of an Urban Framework Plan setting the parameters for the urban regeneration of the former brewery site. As well as directly determining the redevelopment of the site itself, the Masterplan informs the policies and objectives of the Councils in respect to the ongoing development of Kilkenny City and its environs.

The Urban Framework Plan is the culmination of a process where experts in the fields of economic development, town planning, conservation and architecture engaged in a series of workshops to suggest strategies for the urban regeneration of the site.

Following this process a number of architectural practices were invited to submit formal proposals for their approach to the preparation of an Urban Framework Plan for the site. I was delighted that my practice, Reddy Architecture+Urbanism, which has a long established Kilkenny office, was selected to work with the Council engineering and planning teams on this significant commission.

The Urban Framework Plan defines the principles for the regeneration of the site in respect of planning policies and objectives as identified in the National Spatial Strategy, the Kilkenny City & Environs Development Plan and the Kilkenny City Centre Local Area Plan, The Plan sets out conservation, sustainability, public realm and urban design strategies for the site. It will deliver a mix of uses to ensure that this new quarter will be a vibrant and successful addition to the city, an attraction in its own right and an enhancement to the medieval core.

The Urban Framework Plan sets out guidelines for the design and delivery of:

• A major park/garden on the banks of the Nore.
• A new landscaped walk along the City Walls and Breagagh River.
• Conservation of historic buildings on the site.
• New public, landscaped spaces including a public square at St Francis Abbey.
• Sustainable and energy efficient strategies for individual buildings and the overall site.
• A 3rd level research and enterprise campus centred on the regenerated industrial buildings to be retained on site.
• Residential and retail uses. - Indigenous and international knowledge economy uses on key sites.
• Cultural, retail and tourist related uses on defined sites.

The Plan sets out mechanisms to deliver the development on a phased basis, by the public and private sectors, over the next 10 to 15 years, subject to the vitality of the local and national economy. I believe this plan for this hugely important site in the heart of Kilkenny will ensure that Kilkenny will secure its economic future - and preserve what is magical and precious about its past at the same time.