ARCHITECTURAL practice Place in Belfast is shutting after 15 years after its Arts Council funding was cut.
The decision impacts on its core staff of four people and a larger number of freelance staff.
Since 2004, Place has operated at the cutting edge of creative, intelligent, and inclusive public engagement around the built environment in Northern Ireland.
Its team of staff and volunteers established valued networks across the region, and in the past 18 months engaged more than 10,000 people in more than 130 innovative events which celebrated and enriched an understanding of architectural and planning heritage and linked into initiatives of an international scale.
In a statement yesterday, Place said that in April it had received the "unexpected and disappointing news" that the Arts Council for Northern Ireland (ACNI) had withdrawn its core funding for the organisation.
"Since then, our board and staff have worked intensively to find a way forward. We immediately appealed the ACNI decision, which was unsuccessful, and in June we escalated our case to the office of the Northern Ireland Ombudsman for further review.
"We also engaged with our supporters and trade union colleagues, and took steps to seek alternative funding. At the beginning of July, the ACNI made a conditional offer of limited funding to Place, separate to our original core funding application.
"The board has carefully considered this conditional offer from the ACNI, balancing it against our financial and governance responsibilities at this time.
"But based on a thorough assessment of the risks and responsibilities facing the organisation, we have concluded, sadly, that it is necessary to decline the ACNI offer and wind up Place in its current format.
"This decision has not been taken lightly. It has been made with deep regret, acknowledging the exceptional contributions made by the founders, staff, and supporters of the organisation over the past 15 years, and the impact of this outcome on all of them."
The company said ts key assets - including intellectual property, copyrighted materials and brand - will now be transferred to the Royal Society of Ulster Architects.
Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said: "I'm very sorry to hear this. Place made an important contribution to the debate on the future of our town centres."
