About Me

Rob Cross is an architectural technologist and AI and BIM/GIS expert and digital design technology specialist. Rob is building a public, data-led project on vacancy and dereliction in Ireland, in response to the wider housing and town-centre crisis. Rob is also the author of The Colour of Ireland books: The Colour of Ireland: County by County 1860–1960 (Black & White Publishing, 2023) and its follow-up volume, which restore and colourise historic photographs into a photographic celebration of Irish life across all 32 counties.

BSc Arch Tech and Dip Arch Tech (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and Limerick Institute of Technology, now known as the Technological University of the Shannon.
BRE: BIM ISO 19650: Delivering Information Management

📧 Email: [email protected]

💼 LinkedIn: rob-cross-32793b25

🐦 X: @RobCross247

📸 Instagram: @robcross247

📘 Facebook: @robcross247 (Bringing Ireland's History To Life)

🌐 derelictsites.com

What Rob Cross is doing

Building derelictsites.com and a public demo platform that turns fragmented statutory derelict site registers into a structured, map-based system that is easier to browse, filter, and understand.
Aggregating and standardising data so locations can be mapped and analysed more reliably, and so councils, practitioners, and the public can see patterns and gaps.
Producing practical “decision support” outputs such as summaries, maps, and metrics like “time on register”, valuations, and levy-related figures, with the aim of making dereliction more transparent and actionable.

Heritage and conservation work

Championing conservation-led restoration and adaptive reuse of historic and protected buildings, making the case for sympathetic repair and reuse over demolition and new build.
Researching and documenting at-risk architectural heritage, drawing on the Record of Protected Structures (RPS) and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) to highlight vacant and derelict protected structures.
Bringing Irish history to life through the The Colour of Ireland books and social media, restoring and colourising historic photographs of the people, places, and buildings of all 32 counties Ireland.

Useful links, grants and information

Architectural Heritage: Protected Structures at Risk:

About Me