Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe TD have today welcomed students to the new Central Quad at TU Dublin campus.
The new Quad is the largest building in Grangegorman at 36,000m2. The Central Quad has large lecture spaces, including a 250-seater lecture theatre, training restaurants, specialist learning spaces, including wet and dry labs, workshops, kitchens and general teaching spaces.
Speaking today, Minister Harris said: “Over the course of the past few years, I watched Grangegorman grow to become our newest and biggest higher education campus.
“Today, we are welcoming students and staff onto the new part of this incredible campus. It will also give us a chance to discuss how they have navigated the challenges of the past 18 months.
“This campus will undoubtedly offer students exceptional facilities, but I am also excited about what it will deliver in both social, cultural and economic terms to the entire Grangegorman area.”
Minister Donohoe added: “I am delighted to join Minister Harris in Dublin Central today at the beautiful campus of TU Dublin in Grangegorman. It marks an important milestone in the development of this part of Dublin, a day which so many have worked towards as we welcome over 10,000 students and staff here.
“Grangegorman is an important development under Project Ireland 2040, and the transformation of the 73-acre site of the former St Brendan’s Hospital into a state-of-the-art higher education campus is one of the most significant social and urban renewal projects in Dublin’s inner city.”
The East Quad offers a further 16,000m2 of teaching and performance space and, together with the Central Quad, will allow the return of 10,000 students and 600 staff this month.
President of TU Dublin, Professor David FitzPatrick, said: “Walking through the campus today, it was uplifting to see a flurry of activity as the University prepares to welcome new and returning students to our five facilities across Dublin for the new academic year.
“But, of course, we have also reached an incredible milestone with the impending arrival of 10,000 students to the East Quad and Central Quad on our flagship campus in Grangegorman in less than a week. Across all of our campuses, TU Dublin provides a welcoming learning environment, which supports our mission to ignite the imagination of our students, helping them reach their full potential.
“The Grangegorman campus, which is the largest single education project under Project Ireland 2040, is the result of many years of hard work, and I look forward to celebrating this remarkable achievement with staff – both past and present – students, alumni, academic and industry partners, public representatives and the local community later in the academic year.”
Ger Casey, Chief Executive Officer for the Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA) added: “The Grangegorman development represents a major transformation of this historic part of the city.
“To welcome 10,000 TU Dublin students to Grangegorman this September marks a hugely significant milestone for the project and creates a new chapter in Grangegorman’s history. Seeing the new buildings come alive with activity is a great feeling and I would like to acknowledge the immense work from all involved in making this happen.”
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
Background to Grangegorman development
Programme I incorporated the installation of site-wide infrastructure, public realm and recreation facilities, the adaptive reuse of a number of existing buildings on the site and the construction of the Greenway Hub. This Programme has successfully integrated the site with the surrounding neighbourhood, opening it up as a key community resource and facilitated the move of the first 1,250 TU Dublin students and staff to the campus
Programme II refers to the Central and East Quads, comprising approximately 52,000m2 of teaching space, delivered by way of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract and procured by the NDFA. The completion of these buildings is facilitating an additional 10,000 students and 600 staff to move to the Grangegorman site this September. The PPP Company responsible for delivering the project was Eriugena – a consortium led by Macquarie Capital and supported by a construction joint venture between Sisk and FCC (a Spanish contractor).
Construction of the Quads was completed in December 2020 (East Quad) and March 2021 (Central Quad).
The next phase of development, i.e. Programme III, is to be largely funded by TU Dublin from own resources (i.e. property disposals and other funding sources) and is being delivered directly by the GDA. It encompasses a number of different projects and contracts. The Programme will provide a mix of core teaching/academic space and the complementary infrastructure which is essential to a vibrant campus environment. The following is a brief summary of some of the main projects in the Programme:
- The restoration of the Lower House, part of the former Richmond Asylum, is complete and accommodates student services.
- The Academic Hub, currently in procurement, will include the campus library and learning resource centre.
- The West Quad will accommodate the Business School currently in Aungier St.
- Park House is located adjacent to the Grangegorman site. This provides administrative space, as well as interim library space while the Academic Hub is being developed.
- Further site infrastructure and public realm work is being delivered under a series of smaller contracts.
- The FOCAS research building will ultimately replace provision currently in Camden Row, directly adjacent to the now vacated Kevin St facility.
- Campus student accommodation and Indoor Sports Facilities projects are at early stages of development.
One of the key features of the Grangegorman development, given its urban regeneration objectives, is that it is cross-sectoral. Other (i.e. non-TU Dublin) projects at Grangegorman include:
- The Phoenix Care Residential Centre was delivered and opened in 2013 as a replacement for the old St. Brendan’s Hospital.
- A HSE Primary Care Centre, providing a range of community healthcare facilities for the north inner city area, opened in 2017.
- A new Residential Care Neighbourhood is currently at design stage
- A primary school is also being developed for use by Educate Together with funding from the Department of Education. This project is currently on site.