Car crashing through workshop marks 10th anniversary for Waterford interior design studio

A very well-known and highly respected interior design studio owner in Waterford City had her 10th anniversary in business marked in a way she couldn't have envisaged when a car crashed through her workshop.

The accident happened shortly after midnight on the morning of Wednesday, May 28, at the workshop of The Revamp Tramp on the Cork Road in the city.

Owner, Marianne Heaphy spoke to Waterford News & Star about the matter and said the incident did give her a shock at the time.

"It was someone living nearby who called it in when it happened," said Marianne.

"We were asleep and I didn't hear a thing when it happened," she added.

Unfortunately, the premises was extensively damaged and Marianne was told by a surveyor that it will have to be replaced.

"The workshop will have to be demolished and rebuilt again," she said.

While she did manage to salvage some items from the workshop Marianne a lot of things were unsalvable due to the unstable nature of the remaining structure.

"I did save some things but because of the danger of the remaining structure collapsing there were other things I couldn't get out," she said.

In operation for 10 years, Marianne is renowned across Waterford and the south east for the quality of her work.

While ordinarily she takes commissions for projects in her workshop for the foreseeable future that arrangement will have to change and now commissions will be done through her other role as Project Manager with a new Social Enterprise programme in Waterford titled, 'Loved Back to Life'. 

The project is run in conjunction with Aiséirí and Marianne said the project workers will carry out the commissioned work for now but she will still be overseeing the work.

She said it wasn't until she viewed the workshop later in the day, after the accident happened, that the full extent of the damage became apparent.

"I was half asleep when I looked at it first so I didn't really take it all in until later on in daylight when I saw it then," she said.

Marianne was full of praise and gratitude to Waterford City & County Council for helping in the wake of the accident.

"They were absolutely brilliant," she said.

"They put a barrier around it to keep it safe and they cleaned up the oil spillage from it as well," she added.

"People can still contact me for commissions through Facebook and Instagram like they usually do but it's just they will be done under the 'Loved Back to Life' banner," said Marianne.

She said that project is open for former clients of Aiséirí who can apply and undertake two years training and go on to employment from there.

What's remarkable about the timing of the accident is that it happened 10 years to the day that she opened up the business.

"That was unbelievable," she said.

"The day it happened I got a Facebook message pop up on my feed with photos of the day I cleared the workshop to mark the 10 year anniversary so it was a bit surreal," added Marianne.

While Marianne was obviously disappointed to see her studio damaged she was also very thankful that nobody was injured in the accident.

"It was a shock but nobody was injured so it could have been worse," she said.

To contact Marianne about commissions go onto the Revamp Tramp social media pages on Facebook or Instagram.