Lime Tree Theatre, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

This state of the art multi-purpose 510-seat theatre has an impressive 20m wide by 12m deep stage area. The theatre was created from the conversion of a lecture theatre into a performance facility. The stage installation includes six electric flying bars, twenty-one hemp sets and 12 chain hoists on tracks running up- and downstage. The design also incorporated a tensioned-wire grid, rather than a traditional grid, between the trusses over the stage to minimise the load on the building structure. Professor Michael Hayes, president of the Mary Immaculate College said: “The new theatre is now a key part of the national performance infrastructure of Ireland.”