Studio Record
How Human Connection Heritage grew from measured surveys on Shop Street into a Galway practice devoted to heritage apartment styling.
Founders and the first measured flat
Aoife Byrne and Marcus Lynch opened the studio after restoring a two-room walk-up above a bookshop near St Nicholas'. They kept the original chimney breast and rebuilt the seating around it, learning that Galway renters and owners both want character without theatrical props.
That flat became the studio's teaching room for interns and the first place clients visited before committing to a full apartment scheme.
Working from Shop Street
Our base at 14 Shop Street sits inside the Latin Quarter's grain of narrow plots and shared stair cores. Meetings happen at a drafting table facing the street so clients can point at cornices, paint layers, and window proportions in buildings like their own.
Deliveries for sample boards stay small on purpose; Galway's lanes punish oversized crates, so we test packaging routes before furniture day.
Team roles on a heritage brief
Aoife leads colour and textile decisions for stone and lime-plaster walls. Marcus handles measured plans, door clearances, and how Georgian room heights meet modern kitchens. A rotating assistant tracks supplier lead times from Irish mills and Irish Sea freight.
When a Salthill client needs sea-facing curtain hardware, both principals walk the room together so light and salt exposure inform the same drawing.
Philosophy without period pastiche
We refuse fake beams and catalogue "heritage packs." Galway apartments already carry enough history in their joists and window seats; our job is to edit, soften, and make circulation honest.
Pieces must earn their floor area. If a sideboard blocks the only route from hall to shower, it leaves the scheme even when the finish looks perfect on a mood board.
Revision table — studio notes by year
The table below records how the practice adjusted its methods as more Galway building types entered the portfolio.
| Year | Note |
|---|---|
| 2018 | First Latin Quarter walk-ups surveyed; chimney-breast seating templates drawn for rooms under 28 m². |
| 2020 | Salthill salt-air textile protocol added after fade failures on untreated linen near the Promenade. |
| 2022 | Claddagh cottage conversions entered the book; low ceiling and attic-stair clearances became standard checklist items. |
| 2024 | Georgian rooms near Eyre Square required taller curtain stacks and quieter evening lighting for street-facing parlours. |
| 2026 | Shop Street studio title-block system unified all client sheets under humanconnection.sbs drawing codes. |
Who we work with in Galway
Owners of long-held family flats, newcomers renovating stone cottages, and landlords refreshing Georgian lettings all use the same measured process. We do not style hotels or commercial lobbies; the studio stays inside residential heritage apartments.
Consultations begin on site whenever stairs and lifts allow sample cases upstairs; otherwise we meet at Shop Street with photographs and room dimensions the client has already taken.