Vacant No More: AI and the Future of Irish Buildings
Ireland is facing a housing crisis, and yet countless buildings sit empty and unused.
In this episode of Adapt Radio, Dr. Clare O’Connell speaks with Dr. Philip Crowe and Milo Dennehy from University College Dublin about a bold, AI-driven project to map and tackle building vacancy across the country.
Discover why data on empty buildings is so patchy, how new tech could unlock hidden opportunities for homes and communities, and why solving this puzzle means more than just better spreadsheets.
From town centre revitalisation to the surprising power of open data, this conversation explores how AI might help Ireland turn vacancy into vibrant possibility.
THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT
● Why Ireland’s empty buildings are so hard to track
● How AI and data science are changing the vacancy game
● The challenges, and surprises, of sharing property data
● What Ireland can learn from France, Philadelphia, and beyond
● Transforming vacant spaces into vibrant communities
GUEST DETAILS
Dr Philip Crowe is UCD Assistant Professor for Climate Responsive Design at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy (APEP) and the School of Civil Engineering.
He is the Director of Research at UCD APEP, co-director of the UCD Centre for Irish Towns, and Programme Director of the MSc in Architecture, Urbanism and Climate Action. Philip teaches in areas relating to carbon management, sustainability, urban resilience and urban ethics.
As a researcher, he is working on a range of EU and nationally funded projects relating to town revitalisation, vacancy and adaptive reuse, compact urban growth, and citizen participation in processes of change. Philip’s background is in architecture, and he was previously Director of Sustainable Design at M.CO (Dublin) from 2003-2012.
Milo Dennehy is a Research Assistant in the School of Computer Science. Milo is a current student in the BSc City Planning and Environmental Policy programme, set to graduate in 2025. Before joining Building Stories, Milo was a research assistant in the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy at UCD. His research interests are in building geospatial tools that leverage machine learning and remote sensing techniques to enhance capacity and reduce the barriers to access to geospatial technology for local actors.
MORE INFORMATION
You can learn more about your AI Literacy in the Classroom here: https://ai-literacy-in-the-classroom.adaptcentre.ie/
Adapt Radio is produced by DustPod.io for the Adapt Centre
For more information about ADAPT visit www.adaptcentre.ie/
QUOTES
We don’t actually know what we’re dealing with—how do you manage your built environment without reliable, dynamic data? – Dr Philip Crowe
It shocked me how much decision-making still relies on throwing darts at the map and manual guesswork – Milo Dennehy
If you aggregate all these data sets together, you’ve got something incredibly powerful to solve the housing crisis – Dr Philip Crowe
AI lets us see what’s missing in the data—and predict what’s possible for Ireland’s empty buildings. – Milo Dennehy
The real challenge isn’t technical—it’s about building trust and a culture of sharing data for the public good. – Dr Philip Crowe
KEYWORDS
#AI #VacantBuildings #IrelandHousing #DataScience #UrbanRevitalisation #SmartCities #OpenData #HousingCrisis #PropertyData #CommunityImpact #TownCentres #DataGovernance #SustainableCities #Innovation #TechForGood
Ireland