UCD STUDENT CENTRE

FITZGERALD KAVANAGH AND PARTNERS

ARCHITECTS
WITH ARUP

a day in
the life

a day in
the life
ucd student centre
Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners

contributions by

Dr Hugh Brady
James Mary OConnor
Aidan Kavanagh

Text by Graham Barry

Photography by Donal Murphy

A Day in the Life:

UCD Student Centre
by Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners
EDITOR Graham Barry
COEDITORS Aidan Kavanagh, Andrew Howley
PHOTOGRAPHY Donal Murphy
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any
means now known or hereafter invented, without the prior
permission of Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners.
First published in 2012 by Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners
71 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
www.fkp.ie
Printed in Ireland on FSC-certified recycled paper
ISBN 978-0-9573697-0-2

a day in
the life
ucd student centre

Student health centre

Fitzgerald debating chamber

Gym changing rooms

Radio pod
Gym

Student society offices and meeting rooms

Link to UCD Sport

Spinning studio
Fitness studio

Bridge to student centre

Tepidarium

Changing village

Caf
Gallery walk

Performance theatre

The Red Room

Multimedia theatre

contents
7

Dr Hugh Brady

PRIMUS INTER PARES

James Mary OConnor ON THINKING BIG

11

Aidan Kavanagh

DIVERSITY, DIVERSIFICATION AND THE GREAT LEGACY

16

morning

50

afternoon

08:00 - 11:59

12:00 - 16:59

86
128
156
165
167

evening
17:00 - 20:59

night

21:00 - 23:59

About Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners

Project credits
Acknowledgements
7

PRIMUS INTER PARES

Dr Hugh Brady
UCD President

Good architecture makes a difference to

those who see it, work in it, study in it and
play in it. It lifts the spirits. Thats just what
the new UCD Sports and Leisure facility
does for me, it lifts my spirits. It is the
building that the campus has needed ever
since the Belfield project was conceived in
the middle of the last century. For students,
staff and visitors alike, it has provided a
new heart to the campus.
The UCD campus is organic. Over the years
many fine buildings have been added to
the core, centred on the Newman Building
and Science Centre, but though these
buildings were for students they were not
by the students. That distinction goes to
the Sports and Leisure facility which has
been wholly funded by the student body,
past and present, and which will be home
from now on to the community of students.
The Centres architects, Dublin based FKP
Architecture, have done an incredible job.
The building is of the students because
the students participated in a thorough
consultation process that prefaced the
design work and which defined the aims of
the design team. The architects put it very

nicely when they said, The UCD student

body was the decisive design generator.
The most common request from the
colleges students was a foil, or respite,
from the traditional grey architecture of
much of the rest of the UCD campus and
thats what they were given, in spades. The
new Centre has got light, its got colour and
the facilities, the pool, gym, cinema, theatre
and debating chamber are each, simply,
magnificent. In years to come, when people
say What did the Celtic Tiger do for us, one
thing theyll be able to say is that it allowed
creative people, architects and engineers in
this case, to seek and deliver excellence.
Let me claim that UCD is primus inter
pares amongst Irish universities, its
size, diversity and history giving it its
own unique place in Irish society. The
college, through its societies, has helped
develop societys leaders across all sectors,
commercial, educational, legal, cultural
and sporting. But there was always one
problem there was no flagship space
dedicated to the non-academic expression
of students.

For example, the L&H that has helped hone

the debating skills of leading lawyers,
politicians and members of the Fourth
Estate over many decades but has had to
make do with an adequate, but not ideal,
lecture theatre for its debates. They and
all the other debating societies will now
have the magnificent Garrett FitzGerald
debating chamber to call home. The equally
homeless amongst the colleges family of
musicians will also take residence in the
acoustically perfect chamber.
Another example is DramSoc, which has
nurtured many of the nations finest talent,
theatrical and cinematic, for many decades,
was based in the LG basement, never a
proper theatre. But now they have perfectly
formed 125 seater proper theatre in the
Centre. I said that good architecture lifts the
spirits. Just going into the new theatre does
that for me. A new theatre, especially in a
time of economic gloom, is something to
truly celebrate. Even better, the output from
that theatre is going to lift all spirits all
year, every year. Im delighted for them and
for all future DramSocers.

If the Sports and Leisure Centre is the heart

of campus then the pool is the heart of
the heart. The confidence that the Celtic
Tiger gave us, a confidence that will surely
return, meant that instead of building a
smaller pool we decided to go big. We
have over 30,000 people on campus, the
size of large Irish town. This is the first
Olympic sized pool on the South side of
the capital city. Its huge, its bright, its
eco and sustainable, its seductive, its
where students (and the Olympic swimmers
amongst them), staff and our neighbours
around the South Dublin can come to use
and enjoy one of the finest facilities of its
type.
I started by saying that the new Centre is
the new heart of campus. I look forward,
long after my term is finished, to seeing
new waves of students pumping life into
that heart, with their creativity and energy,
inspired by a beautifully inspiring building.
Congratulations to all involved in bringing
it to fruition.

10

ON THINKING BIG

Dublin Institute of Technology Grangegorman Urban Quarter by Moore Ruble Yudell

James Mary OConnor, AIA

Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners

Dublin Institute of Technology Grangegorman Urban Quarter masterplanner

The opening of the extraordinary UCD

Student Learning Leisure & Sport Complex
project designed by Fitzgerald Kavanagh
+ Partners (FKP) is a momentous occasion
in the recent story of the UCD Belfield
campus. As a fellow architect, professional
colleague of FKPs Director Aidan
Kavanagh, and Principal at the firm of
Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
based in Santa Monica, California, USA,
I am delighted to add my enthusiastic
voice to the celebration of this remarkable
architectural achievement.
The ideals and values of our own practice,
Moore Ruble Yudell, are most fully evident
in the depth and breadth of our work for
college and university campuses. Moore
Ruble Yudell is internationally recognised
for a strong and varied practice in campus
architecture and planning. In Ireland,
we take great pride in our current role as
the Master Planner, Design Architect, and
Design Team Leader on the Grangegorman
Urban Quarter Master Plan for the Health
Service Executive (HSE), Dublin Institute of
Technology (DIT) and the Local Community
in North Central Dublin. This project is at
present being implemented, following the
international design competition held in
2007, which was awarded to Moore Ruble
Yudells Team, and the completion of the
Master Plan design process in 2009.
In our extensive experience on planning
and architectural projects at academic
institutions, we have found that the
ultimate test of campus buildings is how
well they fit, relate to and affect the

existing campus fabric at multiple scales

not only the immediate surrounding
buildings around the site, but the entire
campus as a wholein order to create a
strong sense of place and an inclusive
sense of community. Based on these
criteria, the new UCD Student Centre
facility is an unequivocal success, forming
a vibrant social, sports and creative
campus heart for the benefit of students
at UCD.
Moore Ruble Yudells other recent campus
work in North America is exemplified by
our award-winning Steger Student Life
Centre at the University of Cincinnati,
Ohio, the Sloan School of Management
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts , and
the Student Community Centre at the
University of California, Berkeley, which
provides a rich, diverse mix of activities
and program elements very similar to the
UCD Student Centre project. Our design
approach emphasises a commitment
to the creation of campus places that
celebrate and inspire human habitation
and participation, seeking design solutions
that are unique responses to their context,
culture, and the aspirations of their
communities.
In this regard, it was a pleasure and
honour for me to be invited as a
participant on the UCD Gateway Project
Competition jury panel assembled by
President Hugh Brady in 2006. During the
process of this competition at the highest
level, I was delighted to meet and get to

know Aidan Kavanagh. FKP (in association

with Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart) were
the only Irish architectural firm included
in a shortlist of 5 comprising the top
international firms of Zaha Hadid, Michael
Hopkins, Ingenhoven and Snhetta invited
to prepare design proposals. During
the design and jury process, the FKP
team clearly demonstrated a thorough
understanding of Hugh Bradys vision and
aspirations for the Belfield Campus. FKP
was advanced to the short-list of 3 finalist
Teams, after an impressive presentation
and interview during which Aidan
Kavanaghs passion for the UCD Belfield
campus was most apparent.

Freed & Partners, the Aronoff Centre for

Design and Art by Peter Eisenman, and the
Vontz Centre for Molecular Studies by Frank
Gehry.

In 2008, I had the pleasure to meet

Aidan again at the opening of the Arup
Design & Research Headquarters in
Dublin Docklandsan elegant project
also designed by FKP. In the same year,
our relationship with Aidan and FKP was
further strengthened when FKP with the
UCD Estates team travelled to Cincinnati
University in Ohio, USA on a visit to
experience the establishment of the iconic
Signature Architects precinct of new
buildings in the centre of the campus, as
part of FKPs development work at project
commencement with UCD on the Student
Centre design. Cincinnati Universitys
dynamic ensemble of new projects by
internationally known designers includes
the Steger Student Life Centre by Moore
Ruble Yudell, the Campus Recreation
Centre by Morphosis, the Richard Lindner
Athletic Centre by Bernard Tschumi, the
College Conservatory of Music by Pei Cobb

With the opening of this remarkable

facility, Aidan Kavanagh and FKP have met
and exceeded the challenge of providing
11,000 square metres of student-identified
needs, by completing an outstanding
ensemble of facilitiesseamlessly
connecting the existing Student Centre
and the 1980 RIAI Triennial Gold Medalwinning A&D Wejchert-designed 1964
Sports Centre. Creating a compelling
new focus for student life at UCD with an
engaging combination of scale, colour and
fun, the completion of the UCD Student
Learning Leisure & Sport Complex is a
unique achievement worthy of celebrating
and commemorating in the Fitzgerald
Kavanagh & Partners publication A Day
in the Life. It is a spectacular, inclusive
building that is most worthy of becoming a
multi award-winning facility for UCD.

Among these projects, two in particular

Moore Ruble Yudells Steger Student Life
Center and Morphosiss Campus Recreation
Centre, anchoring a newly-created Main
Street pedestrian spine through the heart
of the University of Cincinnati campus
were seen by the participants to define
an attractive centrepiece of campus life
which became a Belfield project ideal, now
brilliantly delivered by FKP with the new
UCD Student Centre.

11

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12

DIVERSITY, DIVERSIFICATION AND THE GREAT LEGACY

Aidan Kavanagh

Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners

In late 2007, the Sunday Independent ran

an article in which incoming students
detailed their reasons for choosing
their respective universities, focusing
particularly on the character and facilities
of the campuses. Interviewed students
summarised the UCD campus as cold,
too homogeneous, and lacking in colour.
This terse but insightful article became
emblematic of the architects journey
towards the development of the new UCD
Student Centre.
Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners
commenced design in early 2008,
conducting research of our own into UCD
students perceptions of and aspirations
for their campus. Students were invited to
add an empirical rigour to the inherently
speculative design brief; their interviews
recorded and published online to open
the discussion yet more widely. The UCD
student body has been, from the very
inception of this project, the decisive
design generator.
This body of research became known as
A day in the Life because it revealed
the fascinating diurnal cycle of use,
reinterpretation and reuse unique to
UCDs shared spaces: how the same
room hosts a very diverse range of uses
during the course of a single day. As our
design work progressively synthesised this
new understanding of life on campus,
a functional, sensual and conscientious
architecture with individuality and
personality emerged as our ultimate goal.
UCD originally conceived this project as
a modest 7,000 sqm extension to the

existing student centre, which was built in

2001, and called an EU-wide architecture
competition to appoint a design team.
FKPs winning entry revisited the original
masterplan for UCD, penned in 1964 by
Andrzej Wejchert. His concept would
place the new Student Centre project at
the centre of a complete sports precinct,
surrounded on three sides by playing
fields and on the exact site of a fifty metre
swimming pool. After this discovery,
the design team pursued a programme
which was much more than the leisure
facility described in the competition brief,
additionally adopting the vision of sporting
excellence in the original masterplan.
For the design scheme which FKP
presented in August 2008, all our research
had coalesced into a building which is
the new epicentre of social, creative and
sporting activity in UCD. Standing on a
granite-paved plaza at the intersection of
existing sporting, academic and leisure
facilities at the westernmost boundary of
UCD, adjacent to the iconic water tower,
the FKP proposal joined the neighbouring
UCD Sport and Student Centres to create
a combined 22,000 sqm destination for
everyone in UCD. Construction began
in earnest in November 2009, after a
conclusive cycle of design development
lead by students, teaching staff,
administrative staff and local residents.
The final Student Centre, as now built,
reinvigorates the urbanism inherent but
oft ignored - in Wejcherts original vision.
The disparate collection of functions it
hosts swimming pool, debating chamber,
gym, seminar room, caf among others

function as a city in microcosm, unified

under a bird-wing glulam structure which
soars outwards to embrace its newlyinterconnected neighbours. Each function
is expressed as a self-contained volume
with its own unique spatial and material
character. The resulting voids and spaces
in-between make the building a navigable,
corridor-less public playground.
The exterior is composed primarily of
monochromatic volumes with discreet shots
of colour in reference to the materiality
and colour of the wider campus. Inside,
however, colour comes to the fore. The
interior is a commensurately vibrant,
playful and fun backdrop to student life,
expressed through apposition of strong
colours and haptically rich materials. Slips
of flamed textured limestone versus largescale polished black granite; grit-blasted
black concrete versus smooth white corian
and tiling; exposed services adjacent to
dropped white ceilings; white terrazzo
versus electric green flooring pursue the
vision of vibrancy through diversity.
The architecture is founded on precepts
of legibility, commutativity and universal
access. The Student Centre can be defined
as the sensitive container described by
Zumthor (1999, p. 13), enriched by the
infinite variety of human activity which will
take place within. The manifestation of this
vision is most perceptible in the absence of
corridors in the new building, which have
been replaced by interconnected volumes
and Gallery Walk, the largest indoor public
space on the UCD campus.

a complex set of visual rhymes, where

colours are used at different scales in
symmetry across a single space. Visual
interconnectedness means that the
most conspicuous volumes, (namely the
yellow radio pod, red fitness studio and
green changing rooms) can be used to
easily orient oneself from anywhere in
the Student Centre. Subtle distinctions in
finish and texture are a recurring theme
in marking the transition from one place
to the next. This intuitive architectural
legibility subconsciously fosters
understanding and a welcome sense of
ownership.
After nightfall, and the general closure
of the Student Centre, the architecture
re-emerges anew as a festival of colour
across the public squares. Floodlighting
dematerialises the glass and steel mesh
faade to bring the large coloured volumes
to prominence as a fun, charged backdrop
to the nightlife of the campus: evening
training sessions, students leaving the
Clubhouse Bar, media teams working late
and other activities yet to occur.
As UCD itself grows ever more diverse
and diversified, so too must its facilities.
Conceived as UCD reflects on 50 years at
Belfield, and plans for its future there, the
Student Centre embodies this paradigm
shift in the institutions history: this
building is the legacy of a period of very
high achievement, and the means by which
UCD can continue to lead the pack far into
the future.

A sense of order is maintained through

13

14

Dominic OKeefe

Director of Student Services and Facilities

UCD students have always considered
themselves proud to be a part of Irelands
largest and finest university. With this
pride comes an ambition to meet and
exceed expectation.
Importantly, this ambition and passion for
the University are matched in reality by the
drive of its students. The completion of the
Student Centre project is a testament to
this drive and determination.
Today, the entire UCD community can be
proud of the fact that we are now home to
the most complete student facility of any
university in Ireland. For years to come
this magnificent complex will stand as an
enduring legacy to all that is great about
this University, its students.

Lorcan Sweetman

UCD Buildings and Estates Project Administrator

Planned with sustainability excellence,
this, to my mind, has added to the building
design quality. Of significant importance
is the use of the energy recovery systems
and the focus on climatic change which
means the building is designed for
the present but prepared for the future
(essential in Ireland!), all of which has
been achieved with architectural elegance.
FKPs master planning of the sports
precinct as preliminary work to the
building design has proven to be a most
valuable exercise and a useful tool in the
successful collaborations between our
building team and the design team as a
whole. A key element to the success of
the project has been the client focused
approach by the team and although often
used as a clich in this instance it rings
true, simply because the building works.
The juxtaposition of bold architectural
elements with functional design is a credit
to the designers and reinforces the new
Sports and Leisure complex as a flagship
building on the Universitys Belfield
campus.

Pat de Brn

President, UCD Student Union

Theres a great satisfaction amongst
students that this is their building in every
sense. They informed the design via the
consultation process, they are paying the
entire cost of the building through their
levies and now they get to use it, one of
the finest student leisure facilities that Ive
seen as Students Union President. The
architecture ensures longevity and this
building is going to be used and enjoyed
by generations of UCD students to come.
The scale and magnificence of the
completed structure is testament to the
vision, foresight and commitment of the
students of UCD, who voted to construct &
fund the Student Centre in a referendum
several years ago. Every aspect of the
project had a huge amount of consultation
with the student body and that has
culminated in a new heart of campus
that each and every UCD student can feel
ownership of and be proud of.

15

roebuck grove campus expansion wat

faculty of commerce first expansion attempts
woodview campus expansion science block gr
catholic university medical school national university of ireland established easter rising byrnes fields campus expansion trinity
catholic university established university education act university park terenure sports base merville campus expansion ballymun tow
university church opens Jesuits assume management 44 acres acquired at belfield dr michael tierney appointed president arts a
james joyce enrolls earlsfort terrace expansion further city centre expansion attempts IDA fo
77 acres acquired around Belfield dana win
roebu

1854
16

UCD Student Centre

project begins

library opens engineering building opens centre for synthesis and chemical biology founded global lounge completed
ter tower completed student club opens blackrock campus opens luas begins operations novaUCD opens
roundbreaking agriculture transfers to belfield Dr Hugh Brady appointed president alliance with NCAD irish times debating victory
merger proposed architecture moves to belfield 150th anniversary of UCD iPhone launched Dr Brady elected chair of universitas 21
wers open richview expansion fall of the berlin wall erasmus exchange programme begins gateway masterplan
and law move to belfield sports centre opens conway institute established earlsfort terrace relocation complete
ounded wejchert masterplan commerce moves to belfield irelands economic growth reaches 11% sutherland school of law opens
ns eurovision belgrove residences completed horizons modularisation introduced the university observer wins newspaper of the year
uck castle expansion orielly hall opens NIBRT opens health sciences complex opens science south completed

2006
17

morning
08:00 - 11:59

18

19

8:00

SWIMMING POOL
AT FULL LENGTH

The pool hall is the centrepiece of the

Student Centres sporting provision. In
addition to FINA compliance (so it can host
international competitions), a system of
movable floors and dividing booms allow for
multiple simultaneous uses. The universitys
diving, canoe and water polo clubs can
adjust the depth and length of the pool to
their requirements, without encroaching on
lane swimmers.
Technically, the volume is among the most
sophisticated in the Student Centre. High
performance materials included in the pool
enclosure completely obviate the booming

Right The swimming pool,

view from spectator entrance
20

Above right Section through caf,

fitness studio and swimming pool

echoes and leaking chlorine odour which

beset other swimming pool complexes. In
service of the buildings sustainability goals,
the swimming pool is used as a natural heat
store: circulating the warmth generated as
the water is heated to neighbouring spaces,
thereby offsetting their need for artificial
heating.
The three-storey pool volume is visually
linked to the other sport facilities, and also
to the academic wing. One of the biggest
design challenges was permitting warmth
and natural light to flow from the pool
volume to the neighbouring spaces without

encroaching on the privacy of the pool

users. Ultimately, a series of bespoke display
screens along Gallery walk were developed
to partially occlude the view paths into the
pool hall without sealing it completely.
A sense of human scale is preserved through
the use of distinct materials on either side
of a two metre height boundary. Low bands
of black ceramic tiles and black sandblasted
concrete, which contrast ostensibly with
the vitreous reflectivity of the water and
glass, mediate between the enormity of the
structure and the relative size of its users.

21
8:00

8:00

Above The swimming pool, view

towards Gallery Walk

22

Above right Starting platforms,

spectator stand and fitness studio

Opposite View from spectator stand

23
8:00

FITNESS STUDIO
8:00

Above Visual connection to

swimming pool and gym.

24

The appearance of the south faade

is defined by three large volumes: the
Fitzgerald Chamber (polished basalt), the
fitness studio (red aluminium) and the
spinning studio (black basalt). Seen together,
rhythmic variations in their scale and finish
have created a visually exciting but well
organised elevation which represents the
breadth of activity within.

Right Stretching bar and view

onto playing fields.

Opposite Viewed from the

swimming pool.

The fitness studio permeates the boundary

between the sporting and academic wings: it
looks upon the swimming pool and playing
fields, and also neighbours the Fitzgerald
Debating chamber. This intermediary
positioning of such a recognisable
component serves to underline the inclusive
spirit of the Student Centre as a whole. The
Centre is visible to everyone and everyone is
welcome.

The carmine red cladding developed from

students complaints about the lack of
campus life after dark, and universal requests
for a foil to the alienating grey architecture
elsewhere in Belfield. By day the fitness
studio is a fun and lively place which shares
the energy of its activity with the wider sports
precinct; by night, the buildings floodlights
reinvent it as a glowing beacon for the social
life in the Student Centre after dark.

25
8:00

GALLERY WALK ENTRANCES

8:00

There is deliberately no large central foyer

in the Student Centre; instead, a continuous
public route connects its spaces and levels.
The creative and academic side of the
Student Centre is accessed from entrances
marked by the dark stone of the Fitzgerald
Debating Chamber and performance theatre.
The polished basalt is at once dark and
light-absorbing yet almost mirror reflective:

26

a complex surface which perceptibly alters

the behaviour of natural light which touches
it and reflects the primary colours in nearby
finishes.
This light-dark-light transition marks the
threshold between the outdoor public spaces
and the dramatic volume of Gallery Walk,
and thereafter the progressively more private
volumes beyond.

27
8:00

STRUCTURE
in detail

The irregular geometry of the Student

Centre building, coupled with the multiple
requirements for open internal spaces has
demanded a sensitive and varied approach
to the design of the building structure. The
material choice has been driven not alone by
the structural requirements but also responds
to the internal environment of the pool hall
and the associated spaces.

the direction transverse to the pool. In the

longitudinal direction stability is provided
by the diaphragm action of the roof coupled
with vertical bracing elements. A profiled
steel service gantry is suspended from the
apex of the frame, which is incorporated in
to the overall structural system by means of
tensioned cables which connect it to both
ends of the rafters.

Structurally this is a complex building,

incorporating the use of a variety of materials
and structural systems. It is also a building
where the structure is an integral part of the
building architecture and as such required
a high level of detailing to achieve the
required effect. The building structure needs
to accommodate a significant amount of
technology, from moving booms and floors in
the swimming pool to the stage and lighting
systems in the drama theatre. The interface
with the abutting Sports and Student Service
buildings also needed careful consideration,
with the irregular geometry of the Sports
building in particular providing a significant
challenge.

The glulam structure is continued in to the

Gym and the associated changing facilities,
which are located to the west of the pool
hall. Here smaller glulam frames rise from
the first floor concrete structure to span the
19.5m width of the room. Again, stability is
provided in the direction of the glulam by the
frame action, with vertical bracing elements
providing stability in the other direction. The
structure up to first floor level, at which point
the glulams are supported, comprises in-situ
concrete walls and columns and precast
flooring elements.

Probably the most distinguishing structural

feature of the building is the extensive use
of glue-laminated (glulam) timber elements.
This is evident from the moment you enter
the building but is at its most dramatic in the
pool hall. Here the profiled timber frames
rise from a reinforced concrete wall at the
western side of the pool to span the 33.5m
width of the hall, where they are supported
on inclined steel columns on the opposite
end. These columns, which are inclined in
two directions, are supported in clusters of
four off shorter reinforced concrete columns,
replicating branches extending from the
trunk of a tree to give a striking visual effect.
The timber glulams cantilever from these
supporting elements to form the roof of the
circulation space that divides the swimming
facilities from the eastern wing of the
building.
The profiled glulam frames, which are
typically at 5.50m centres in the pool hall
and measure up to 2200mm in depth, are
designed to provide structural stability in

28

As the glulam elements extend to the front

of the building into the circulation spaces,
the form changes. Here the internal leg of
the frame cranks and extends to ground floor
level to dramatic effect. At the secondary
entrance to the building, the form changes
further as a additional timber element is
introduced which cantilevers over pairs
of inclined steel columns to support the
entrance canopy.
The nature of the spaces created on the
eastern side of the building is altogether
different from a structural viewpoint to
the rest of the building. The three primary
spaces, i.e. the drama theatre, cinema
and debating chamber are formed using
a combination of reinforced concrete and
steelwork elements.
The debating chamber is of particular
interest structurally. The walls enclosing
the space are constructed in reinforced
concrete which cantilevers at first floor level
a distance of approximately 5m over the
Gallery Walk entrance to create the desired
architectural impact. The structural design
was further complicated by an extensive

array of openings in the concrete structure to

accommodate service routes. The lightweight
roof is supported using a steel structure
spanning the full 25m width of the chamber.
The structure of the drama theatre is similar
to that of the debating chamber, without
the complexity of the cantilever. Reinforced
concrete walls create the form of the theatre
with a steelwork structure at roof level
supporting a precast concrete roof slab,
which is required for acoustic reasons.
Steel gantries are suspended from the roof
structure to accommodate the operational
requirements of the theatre.
The cinema is accessed at ground floor
level and is constructed part underground.
Again it is built using reinforced concrete
walls with precast concrete slabs supported
on a steelwork structure forming the floor
over. Indeed this form of floor construction
is utilised throughout the east wing of the
building to create the spaces between the
three primary spaces.
The radio and dance pods are also
interesting features structurally. The radio
pod is an isolated steel framed structural
element supported on four inclined columns
and acoustically isolated from the rest of the
building. Similarly the dance pod is a steel
framed structure, in this instance integrated
with the faade of the pool hall.
The careful attention to detailing of the
structure continues externally with the
formation of cleverly conceived spaces and
views. The structural concrete retaining
walls and terracing form links between the
various spaces at different levels. The high
level of coordination with the landscaping
has also minimised the presence of manhole
covers and drainage breaks on the finished
surface, with access chambers restricted to
specifically design green islands that break
up the mass of hard-standing.

29

30

31

GALLERY WALK

9:00

Gallery Walk is the Student Centres main

thoroughfare, and one of the largest indoor
public spaces on campus. A triple-height
linear volume composed of black concrete
walls, white terrazzo floors with shots of
primary colour; Gallery Walk is a charged
backdrop to social, creative and academic life
in the Student Centre.
Bespoke lounge seating, televisions and
internet access points line the ground floor of
Gallery Walk. Overhead, a row of illuminated
display screens show news updates, event
bulletins and student work. The swimming

32

pool can be glimpsed through narrow

windows, maintaining privacy but reinforcing
the idea of interconnectedness. Gallery Walk
is not an ordinary sunlight atrium. It is the
generous, joyful and sociable intersection of
all activity in the Student Centre.
Sunlight flooding in from the roof lingers
on the polished surfaces and accentuates
the flashes of colour. This interplay of
energy from nature and man-made design
to celebrate it elevates Gallery Walk to the
uplifting, worthy centre of the student life.

The architecture of Gallery Walk shares with

Italian Futurism a fascination with movement
and multiple perception: the bold volumes
of the emerald green changing rooms, chilli
red dance pod and traffic yellow radio pod
are all visible alternately as one passes along
Gallery Walk. Ascending the two upper levels
brings infinitely more new encounters with
these volumes within the same space: the
building becomes an architectural adventure.

33
9:00

9:00

34

The caf sits under the red aluminium

awning of the main dance studio, at the
confluence of the sporting and creative wings
of the Student Centre. It is, ideologically
and architecturally, the intersection of the
complexs otherwise discrete functions.

Alongside Gallery Walk, the caf is the main

social venue in the student centre. The
seating opens onto a landscaped, south
facing caf terrace facing the playing pitches.
Deep window alcoves, finished in yellow
aluminium, offer insular, individual spaces.

35

9:00

CAF
breakfast service

THE ORIGINAL
UCD MASTERPLAN
in detail

By the mid 1940s, UCDs buildings in the city

centre had reached their capacity and the
decision was made to move to the present
300 acre site in Belfield, south Dublin.
An international competition to select the
masterplan was held in 1963, attracting 105
entries from 64 countries and won by Polish
architect Andrzej Wejchert (1937-2009).
Wejcherts scheme displayed extraordinary
foresight, in that it planned for the
protracted, irregular development of the
campus by multiple architects. Six hundred

36

metres of covered walkways continue to

ingeniously unify Wejcherts Modernist
masterplan and the patchwork of different
architectures which now populate it.

laudable for the emphasis it places on

landscaping and pedestrianisation: two ideas
which were only to become hegemonic in
following decades.

Conceived in the era of misguided

social experiment in architecture (most
conspicuously in the tower blocks for
mass housing), the legacy of Wejcherts
masterplan is its true insight into the life of
students in an emergent Ireland, and the
enduring quality of the architecture he has
derived from that. The masterplan is further

FKPs Student Centre can also attest to the

timelessness of the original idea, realising
as it does the fifty-metre pool on the exact
site which a 26-year old Andrzej Wejchert
identified at his mothers kitchen table in
1963.

22

18
20
17
22
15
16
14
6

12
5
8

13

20

3
9

21

4
2

1
10

12

22

22

20

11
21

19

21

22

1. Administration
2.
Aula Maxima
3. Library
4.
Student Facilities
5. Arts

6. Agriculture
7. Architecture
8. Biology
9. Chemistry
10. Physics

11. Engineering
12. Medicine
13. Chapel
14.
Swimming pool
15. Gym

16.
Changing rooms
17. Plant
18. Maintenance
19. Stadium
20.
Playing fields

21.
22.

Halls of residence
Gate Lodge

37

THE RED ROOM

10:00
38

Academic seminars and public talks take

place in the Red Room, which is located on
the ground floor overlooking Bridge Street.

further evolution. The resulting design

prioritises high comfort in a neutral setting;
where the focus is always the speaker.

The Red Room design started as an

investigation of architectures role in creating
effective spaces for learning. Lauded and
groundbreaking examples around Europe,
North American and Australia were analysed
for their successes and opportunities for

Heavy, stable materials, including flamed

limestone, arranged in a regular grid pattern
give the Red Room its air of order and focus.
The originally Georgian device of raising the
main floor above street level has been used
to further improve the privacy of participants.

Acoustically dampers embedded in the

walls obviate the distracting din of group
discussions and air conditioning, while a
glazed wall admits natural light and fresh air.
A wall of bespoke cabinetry invisibly
accommodates all the technological
provisions and conceals the audience seats
when not in use.

10:00

Address

Discussion

Reception
39

NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL SUITE

The new Student Centre establishes a media

district within UCD, which clusters both
campus newspapers, Belfield FM and the
Campus Television Network alongside the
Student Union offices.

10:00

Below Sky-lit passage through

media suites and society rooms.

40

Below right View onto Gallery

Walk from meeting rooms.

Opposite Interconnected offices

to support collaboration.

41
10:00

11:00

Above The spectator balcony

which encircles the chamber.

Opposite Bleachers retracted to

provide space for individual music
practice.

THE FITZGERALD CHAMBER

BY DAY

The debating chamber is among the Student

Centres distinguishing features. The need for
a world class debating venue in UCD became
ever more apparent as their teams achieved
international success despite not having a
dedicated facility in which to practice or host.
The UCD Debating Chamber takes as its
precedent the historic spaces which grew
from the rich dialectic tradition at the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. These
spaces are defined by an insular atmosphere
and very high standard of finish. In the
Fitzgerald Chamber, iroko panels line the
walls and ceiling, complemented by red
velvet upholstery. A network of hidden
staircases and leaning rails provide routes for
the spectators and hecklers who have always
formed part of competitive debating.
Frank Lloyd Wrights Unity Temple in Chicago
was another very important inspiration

42

for the design. The small suburban

church shares with the other precedents a
perceptible introversion and use of precious
materials, but exhibits a unique geometric
rigour and understanding of the human
experience of its inhabitation. These latter
traits have been explored in the Fitzgerald
Chamber through careful regulation of light
ingress, a clear distinction between interior
and exterior and a haptic richness of the
individual finishes.
Technical performance and material
characteristics have been considered
carefully in terms of their versatility,
specifically in the chambers acoustic
isolation and low reverberation time, which
also lend it to musical performance. Tiered
seating for opposing debating teams can
retract automatically, creating a modest
proscenium for private rehearsals and
intimate performances.

43
11:00

11:00

44

11:00

Above View onto the stage

created when the seating tiers
are fully retracted. The balcony

seats and leaning rails around

the upper level can accommodate
a small audience for intimate

performances, workshops and

demonstrations.

45

11:00

46

The gyms cycle of daily use is inversely

related to UCDs academic schedule, with
highest levels of use before and after
general teaching hours. Occupancy of the
150-machine gym fluctuates significantly
during the course of the day, with multiple
periods of peak use. Team training sessions
also cause surges in use.

This has significant implications for the

gyms mechanical services, particularly air
conditioning. Rather than rely on energyintensive air conditioning during quieter
periods, natural ventilation helps cool the
gym to the optimal 19C. As the gym gets
busier, and there is more heat from the
occupants to remove, the air conditioning is
then put to use.

11:00

GYM
MORNING SESSIONS

Opposite The gym grows steadily

busier as the day goes on, reaching peak use in the late evening.
47

STUDENT HEALTH CENTRE

The healthcare needs of a thriving and active

student population are accommodated in a
new suite of treatment rooms on the top floor
of the Student Centre.
The spatial character changes significantly
in the medical centre: it is a more introverted
space; courtyard gardens connect visually
with the sky rather than the surrounding
campus. A unique selection of finishes
further differentiates the health centre from

11:00
48

the rest of the Student Centre. In this way,

the highly specialised medical, psychological
and psychiatric needs of the student body
can be addressed in an atmosphere of
confidence and clinical rigour.

49
11:00

COLOUR
in detail

The student advisory panel was unanimous

in its calls for a foil to the alienating grey
architecture which defines the UCD campus.
The earliest design concepts are recognisable
for their primary colour scheme, which was
subsequently developed into a multifaceted
system providing orientation, spatial
definition and a vibrant backdrop for student
life around the clock.
Colour is treated as a building material,
regarded as equally important to the
architectural vision as the concrete or steel.

The green changing rooms, red fitness

studio and yellow radio pod are the most
recognisable volumes in the centre, and form
a key element in its easy navigation. During
the day, they occupy a discrete position in
the greater volume; the users relationship
to them changing constantly as they traverse
spaces and levels. By night, when they
will primarily be viewed from the outside,
the colours form a unified abstract plane
of colour and light: a vital and animate
backdrop to the nightlife on campus.

KUNSTMUSEUM LIECHTENSTEIN

GNTER FRUHTRUNK

50

Gnter Fruhtrunk (1923-1982) was a German

abstract painter and printmaker. His work
explores the tension between contrasting
colours as their interrelationship shifts. Early
paintings are recognisable for their sense of
movement and restless mood, whereas his
later works exhibit more rhythmic, vectorial
geometries with a punctilious use of contrast.
His choice of colour, and more specifically

their adjacencies, challenge our visual acuity

and try to activate a new way of seeing.
Working with the same palette, the
perception of colour in the Student
Centre mediates between Fruhtrunks two
resolutions: it is always harmonious, but
never static.

51

afternoon
12:00 - 16:59

52

53

STUDENT SOCIETY ROOMS

12:00

The easy informality and open design of the

Googleplex in California was the starting
point for the design of new workspaces and
meeting facilities for UCDs societies and
Union officers.
Very flexible spaces with an industrial
material palette foster the collaborative
and empirical spirit central to a productive,
inventive Student Union. The inherent
durability of materials originally designed for
factories encourage open, uninhibited use
and an instant sense of ownership. Visual
connections within the suite, combined with
the service conduits visible overhead, are
analogous to the greater system which the
Student Union officers serve.

54

55
12:00

GALLERY WALK
HANGING SCREENS
in detail

The intuitive navigation of the student

centre became an imperative in the earliest
design concepts. Transparency and visual
connections link spaces, with the coloured
volumes serving as beacons by which visitors
can orient themselves.
In places where some opacity is required
for the sake of privacy, in particular at the
boundary between the swimming pool and
the academic wing, the architects proposed a
row of custom-designed illuminated display
screens.

The final proposal was for white

polycarbonate screens with embedded LED
lighting. The rectangular panels are five
metres tall, and hang slightly forward of the
glass wall between the swimming pool and
Gallery Walk. The pool is thereby visually
separated from the neighbouring offices but
natural light can still flood into Gallery Walk
from both sides.

12:00

Above Elevation of hanging

screens along Gallery Walk.

Right Detail section through a

hanging screen.

Above right Screens, lit in blue,

as visual barrier between the
sport and academic wings.

Far right Screens, lit in pink,

hanging over Gallery Walk

56

DETAIL 4 - Polycarbonate Screen - 2nd floor Balcony

12:00
NOTE
INITIAL

DATE
G
Details 5 & 6 ommitted in coordination to C.O. 32, notes added for clarification

TENSILE STEEL CABLES FIXED TO GLULAM BEAMS

50 X 50 STEEL SQUARE HOLLOW SECTION

POWDER COATED ALUMINIUM BOX SECTION
STAINLESS STEEL PLATE

TWIN LAYER POLYCARBONATE PANEL

ROWS OF LED LIGHT

DETAIL 4 - Polycarbonate Screen - 2nd floor Balcony

KK
A 19-04-2011

DATE

INITIAL

(DETAIL 4) IS TO BE READ
IN CONJUNCTION WITH
SHEET 06-47-C-705

NOTE

Scale 1:10

CAD FILE REF.

2006\06_47 UCD Student Centre\CONST/sheets

SCALE
10@A1 , 20@A3 , 50@A1 100@A3
DRAWN BY
JK / SS / AH
CHECKED

JK

DATE
November 2009
JOB
Student Learning Leisure & Sport Complex

Belfield Campus
University College Dublin
CLIENT
UCD
TITLE
Hanging screens Gallery walk
2nd Floor Balcony Screen
Medical reception screen

FLUORESCENT LIGHT WITH OPAL COVER

DRAWING NUMBER

06-47-C-725
REVISION

57

12:00

Above Pink illumination.

58

Opposite Green illumination.

59
12:00

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
in detail

60

61

RADIO POD

Situated prominently over Gallery Walk, the

Student Centres yellow aluminium-clad
radio pod is the backdrop for daily life along
the buildings main thoroughfare. It works
alongside the other media operating from
the Student Centre: The University Observer,
The College Tribune and Campus Television
Network.

production and broadcast. The angular

form has been adjusted to reflect noise
from passersby, and conceals the intricate
structural details which isolate the studio
within. The radio pod is one of the most
recognisable components in the centre, to be
used as a means of orientation visible from
almost anywhere around the building.

The radio pods irregular volume developed

from the highly specialised acoustic
considerations required for recording,

13:00

Left The radio studio occupies

a two-room pod lifted over the
north end of Gallery Walk.
Opposite The yellow aluminium
clad pod, viewed at first floor
level.

62

63
13:00

Left The crystalline volume is

designed to reflect the noise of
passersby away from the
microphones with the radio
studio.
Opposite top The radio studio
is located among the other print
and broadcast media societies
which have their facilities on the
first floor of the Student Centre.
Opposite below Multiple layers
of acoustic deflection and
insulation completely isolate the
radio studios recording
equipment from outside noise.

13:00
64

65
13:00

13:00

66

Few places in the Student Centre will

experience as constant and manifold an
occupancy as the caf. In between the rush
at mealtimes, the caf is the venue for
internet surfing, study, debate, leisurely
social encounters and individual escapism.
The architecture used variations in scale to
provide a place for everyone. The floating
fitness studio implies a more human scale
over the smaller tables, and extra deep
bays seat one or two people in thoroughly
individual spaces.

Left The caf, prepared for the

lunchtime rush.

13:00

Glass doors between these bays open onto

the cafs furnished terrace, which faces
south across the playing fields. When these
doors are open, continuous floor finishes
obviate the threshold between inside and
out.

67

PUBLIC ART

JOIE DE VIVRE BY JILL PITKO

13:00

The sculpture is movement, it is activity, it

is vitality. This sculpture was designed to be
accessible and playful in its simple pleasing
modern shapes and primary colours. It
features a figure caught in an outstretched
free gesture leaping over an arch. The figure
is thrown in a balletic pose capturing both
athletic exuberance and agile grace. The
arch was conceptualized in an exercise of
geometry with circles and varying symmetry
to represent the roads and ways in which
students and faculty travel to make their way
to University College Dublin. In surmounting
the arch, the figure represents a victory over
challenge.
The sculpture captures the essence of the
myriad of activities that will take place in
this Student Learning, Leisure, and Sport
Complex: sport-energy, dance-grace,
joie de vivre-vitality, thought-creativity,
freedom-playfulness.

--Jill Pitko
Top left Concept sketch drawing
of arch showing geometric basis.
Bottom left Sketch model of
leaping figure.
Left Final sculpture in workshop
before painting.
Opposite Final sculpture in situ,
as seen through the cafs deep
window bays.

68

69
13:00

13:00

70

71
13:00

14:00

72

14:00

PUBLIC SPACES

BRIDGE STREET
Principles of linear pathway gardening, of
which the Promenade Plante in Paris and
High Line in New York are the most important
recent examples, have been developed in
the narrow passage between the new and
original Student Centres. A meandering
public walk enhances the opportunities for
spontaneous social encounters inherent in
such a condensed volume.
After descending from the southern entrance,
the landscape assimilates into the industrial
material palette of the Student Centres
interior most perceptibly in the selfweathering COR-TEN steel planting beds and
streetlights around which the path serpents.
At the northern end, the path opens onto the
campuss new ceremonial square.

73

Health Sciences Centre

(2006)

14:00

Student Centre
(2012)

Student Centre
(2001)

74

Right Bridge Street streetscape

with custom designed planters
and lights.

14:00

Opposite Plan for the landscaped

public square adjoining the
Student Centre.

75

CAMPUS URBANISATION
in detail

Below The Student Centres

integration into the existing
pedestrian network.

76

The architects interpreted the UCD campus

as a complete town in microcosm. Indeed,
with a population of over 25,000, the Belfield
campus is larger than Mullingar, Athlone,
Wexford and Tralee. UCDs population is an
ephemeral one, however, and spread thinly
over its 370 acres, an urban condition hostile
to UCDs potential as a thriving place of life
and learning.

Opposite top Impression of new

covered walkways.

Opposite bottom left Plan views

of possible curved and linear
configurations.

Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners Student

Centre represents a new point of density in
Belfield, reorienting the sprawl around a
new epicentre of campus life. Rather than
spread the Student Centres new spaces
over the entire site, they have been stacked
into dense academic, sporting or leisure
neighbourhoods. Together these will foster
a self-sustaining urban vivacity predicated on

Opposite bottom right Assembly

diagram of proposed covered
walkways.

openness, interconnectivity and diversity.

The Student Centres unifying element is its
soaring gullwing roof: its long overhangs
embrace the 1984 Sport centre and 2001
Student Centre and, symbolically, the wider
campus. Aerial walkways within unite the
three buildings to create the largest, and
only truly universal, public space on campus.

1.

7/8

4
2

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Walkway form
Steel upright
Foundation
Structural joint
Drainage channel
Concealed drainage downpipe
Concealed electrical conduit
Integrated lighting
Resin bound gravel footpath

77

SPORT ENTRANCE

15:00

Left Entrance into swimming pool

spectator area.

78

Above Sport foyer, viewed from

caf.

Opposite Sport foyer, viewed

from entrance to fitness studio.

79
15:00

15:00

Top Archive drawing showing

potential for a diving pool to be
added in the future by extending
the Student Centres modular
structural system.

80

Above right Impression of the

diving pool addition.

Below View from spectator

stand, with Gallery Walk visible
along the right side and the gym
along the left.

Opposite Spectator stand

underneath the fitness studio.

81
15:00

16:00

82

83
16:00

STAND UP AND SURF

16:00
84

It is anticipated that up to 5000 people or

one-fifth of the student population - will use
the Student Centre every day. For many, it
is as much a route as a destination, so the
architecture provides for its visitors to plan
their onward journeys with internet access
worktops along Gallery Walk.

85
16:00

SUSTAINABILITY

The Student Centre is one of the most

energy efficient buildings in Ireland. An allencompassing approach to sustainability has
been developed in close collaboration with
a team of technical specialists lead by Arup.
The following key features collectively result
in a building which consumes over 33% less
energy than similar buildings.

stringent requirements. This significantly

reduces the Student Centres dependence on
artificial sources.

PASSIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The architects worked closely with specialists
to find opportunities to save energy which
arise during the Student Centres daily
use cycle. As much heat from the sun and
occupants as possible is retained by high
performance glazing and thermal insulation
which far exceed official requirements.
The roof in particular is designed to retain
33% more heat than regulations require, to
minimise heat loss and efficiently preserve a
29C internal temperature in the pool hall.

ACTIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

A Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant
meets a substantial proportion the Student
Centres thermal and electrical supply
needs. Co-generation is among the most
efficient options yet invented, in this case
using almost 50% less energy that separate
heating and power plants would. For
example, the considerable exhaust heat from
electricity generation is recycled to warm
the swimming pool. Specific algorithms
have been developed to optimise the plants
efficiency in response to constantly changing
demands, with surpluses exported to UCDs
campus electricity network.

Optimal floor-to-ceiling heights within the

Student Centre promote natural daylight
penetration and reduce the need for electric
lighting during the daytime.

Roof overhangs and steel mesh screens are

used to minimise excessive solar heat ingress
during summer while also allowing useful
solar gains in Winter and maximising natural
lighting.

Low energy, demand-based ventilation

systems which incorporate energy recovery
are used throughout the Student Centre.
All systems employ heat recovery devices to
extract useful heat from the outgoing air, and
recycle it to preheat fresh air. This technique
is particularly effective in the swimming
pool hall, which is maintains higher internal

The double glazing on external faades and

around the pool was tested for air tightness
to further ensure minimal infiltration. The
Student Centre achieved an air leakage
rate which is thirty percent below the most

temperatures than the rest of the Student

Centre.
Modern control routines for the Pool air
systems optimise the use of outside air for
humidity control to minimise energy usage
throughout the year.
An intelligent lighting control system
operates to minimise electricity consumption
by the Student Centres complex lighting
arrangements. A network of occupancy and
sunlight sensors adjusts lighting levels based
on available daylight and whether the room
is occupied.
A rainwater harvesting system has been
installed to gather rainwater from the
Student Centres extensive roof. This water
is then used for toilet and urinal flushing,
which will reduce by half the amount of fresh
water needed from the public water supply.
Every environmental control in the Student
Centre is linked to a central Building
Management System which monitors
the buildings performance as a whole.
This system constantly adjusts internal
temperatures in response to climatic and use
conditions, and provides statistics on energy
consumption. This system further permits
future targets for energy reduction to be set.

losses

100

HEAT
DEMAND

35

POWER
DEMAND

Boiler

45

CHP
loss

es

45

35

Power station

20

53
losses
86

11

144

Left The efficiency of the

Combined Heat and Power plant
versus separate on-grid sources.

Opposite Summary of the design

and lifestyle features contributing to the Student Centres
sustainability.

1a
1b

6d

2a

6c
2b

3a
6b

6a

3b

5c

4a

5b

4b

5a

4c
4d

Minimised heat loss through outer skin,

achieved by:
1a Central placement of the warmest spaces
1b High performance, low u-value thermal
insulation

2 Minimised heat loss through ventilation,
achieved by:
2a Airtight faades
2b Centralised entry and exit routes with
revolving doors prevent drafts.

3 Controlled use of natural solar heat:

3a Projecting louvres on glass faades
deflect solar heat when it is strongest
3b Steel mesh brises soleils on south- and
east-facing faades

4 Minimum dependence on air
conditioning due to:
4a Natural heat convection from the
warmest areas to the coolest
4b Use of the swimming pool as a thermal
store.

4c Universal natural ventilation.

4d Exposed concrete acts as a thermal
mass, absorbing heat and releasing
it when temperatures drop to prevent
fluctuations.
5 Maximised use of natural daylight.
5a Rooflights and glazed walls.
5b Narrow plan for maximum sunlight
penetration
5c Motion detector activated lighting in all
offices and hallways.

6 Additional features
6a A highly efficient Combined Heat
and Power Plant which cogenerates
electricity, heat and hot water.
6b Automatic computerised Building
Management System which adapts to
climatic conditions.
6c Local, ecological, recyclable, reusable
and biodegradable building materials.
6d Grey water recycling: rainwater is
gathered on the roof and used for
flushing toilets.
87

evening
17:00 - 20:59

88

89

TEPIDARIUM

The tepidarium houses the sauna, steam

bath, ice fountain, vitality pool, Kneipp walk
and experience showers in an enclave next
to the main swimming pool hall. The space
is recognisable for the luxury of its finishes.
Golden mosaic tiles, mood lighting and
aromatherapy diffusers foster an atmosphere
entirely distinct from the bustling pool
outside.
The tepidarium is central among the
Student Centres facilities for propagating

Below Scent chamber.

17:00
90

Opposite Ice fountain and

recovery lounge beyond.

sporting excellence in UCD. Its physiotherapy

applications and role in recovery after
exercise complement the gym, aquatic
facilities and playing fields which neighbour
it.
The tepidarium adheres to Sebastian
Kneipps hydrotherapy system, which
involves the application of water at varying
temperatures, methods and pressures as one
progresses through the six functions.

91
17:00

17:00

Above left Recovery lounge.

92

Above right Red & brown mosaic

tiles along the Kneipp Walk.

Main image View across

tepidarium from recovery lounge.

Opposite Cross section and plan

of tepidarium.

17:00
4.
3.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Childrens pool
Spa pool
Steam room
Experience showers
Ice fountain
Kneipp Walk
Scent chamber
Recovery area

7.
5.

1.

2.

6.

8.

93

CHANGING VILLAGE

The swimming pool changing village is a

self-contained essay on the colour theory
which appears at a larger scale elsewhere in
the Student Centre.
The three scheme colours of red, green
and yellow are used here as a much more
intuitive, universal alternative to the familiar
system of orientation by locker numbering.
The colours are given due prominence by a
white ceiling and reflective white floor tiles.

Below One of the members-only

changing rooms.
17:00
94

Above Grooming area in the

changing village.

Opposite Orientation by colour in

the changing village.

95
17:00

GYM

Below Ascending from the sports

foyer to the green aluminium clad
gym changing rooms.

17:00
96

The gyms position as the ideological and

architectural nucleus of sporting endeavour
in UCD is reinforced by the transparency and
interconnectedness of its new, open-plan
volume. The swimming pool, hockey stadium
and original UCD Sport building form the
commensurately energetic backdrop to the
new gym floor.

Opposite Cardio equipment with

views over the swimming pool
and fitness studio.

The gyms glazed length opens onto the roof

of UCD Sport, which has been redesigned as
a sheltered venue for internal martial arts.

97
17:00

GYM

17:00

Above Cardio machines facing

the roof terrace hosting martial
arts.

98

Right View from gym entrance

towards mirrored free weight
area.

Opposite top Trainer station.

99
17:00

MATERIALS
in detail
Granite paving
Varying sizes of sett are
used to identify changes
in use. The lines of the
paving also align perfectly with those of the
swimming pool, uniting
inside with outside.
Resin bonded gravel
A coarser texture to
complement the varying
scales of smooth granite
paving which mark
different outdoor spaces.

Polished basalt
The Fitzgerald Chamber
is clad is highly polished
black gabbro, a coarser-grained variant of
basalt. The colour and
reflectivity change markedly during the course of
the day.

Irish limestone
Smooth, flamed slabs
with visible fossils are
arranged in an undulating, staggered bond
to visually break up the
larger surfaces.

Sambesi wire mesh Structurally similar to Lago mesh but

more transparent, Sambesi
is used on the south-facing
faade to regulate control
the ingress of solar heat.
With an open area of 42%,
the mesh admits more heat
when the sun is lowest.

White terrazzo
A durable and beautiful
composite of white Carrara marble set in white
cement and inlaid with
mother of pearl.

Terrazzo tiles (red/yellow)

Vivid accents to the white
and grey terrazzo floors,
made from crushed glass
set in pigment-dyed
resin.

Grey terrazzo
An aggregate of
Bardiglio Imperiale grey
marble set in light grey
cement, polished to a
vitreous finish.

Aluminium cladding
(green/red/yellow)
A highly reflective
surface (85% gloss)
which encases the most
distinctive volumes and
contributes to their
acoustic isolation.

Lago wire mesh

Another particularly
industrial material, this
stainless steel mesh has
a dense geometric layout
which oscillates between
reflectivity and opacity
depending on light and
the viewers position.

Board-marked concrete
A material which visually
expresses how it was
made: an organic effect
achieved in a man-made
material.

COR-TEN Used in the external

landscaping, COR-TEN is a
steel alloy which strengthens
and develops a stable reddish
patina over time. The colour
and weathering process is
analogous to the autumnal
shades of the planting scheme.
100

Iroko
A very distinctive and sustainable hardwood, with
much greater natural variation in texture and grain
than oak. Chosen for the
Fitzgerald Chamber due to
its warmth, intensity and
historicist character.

Embossed aluminium
A thin but extremely
durable sheet material,
used in the roof to foster
a sense of levity as it
sails over the Centres
most voluminous
internal spaces.

Self-finished render
The projecting volumes
of the medical centre
are finished in a crisp,
white render to preserve
the discreteness of their
planes and angles.

Polycarbonate A light, strong

and semi-translucent
thermoplastic polymer,
used in the medical centre
to maintain privacy while
admitting daylight. The projection screens suspended
along gallery walk are also
made from polycarbonate.

Glulam
Multiple layers of pine
glue-laminated together and finished with
clear lacquer. A much
more sustainable and
chlorine-resistant solution for the main roof
structure.

Norament rubber floor

A 3mm thick vulcanised
rubber surface is used
on the upper levels
along Gallery Walk. The
strong colour emphasises the circulation routes
through the Centres
academic functions.

White corian
Smooth, matte corian
television bezels along
gallery walk highlight
the coarseness of the
black concrete walls
behind.

Sandblasted black
concrete
A limestone aggregate
and black pigment
are used to create a
light-absorbing concrete
with an even texture.

Tesser in
primary colours
In a recurring theme,
red and green mosaic
tiles echo the colour and
proportion of the larger
volumes they are facing.

Black tiles
A visually and haptically
rich finish to the lower
walls in the pool hall to
imply a human scale.

Tensile cable webnet

A very tactile material
typically used in industrial settings and chosen
here for its durability
and transparency.

An industrial material vocabulary was

chosen for the Student Centre as its inherent,
perceptible durability fosters uninhibited
and creative use of its spaces: a sense of
ownership.
Variations on textures and scales is a
recurring theme, with the interplay of rough
and smooth, large and small, light and dark
serving to subtly distinguish different zones.

This architectural device is most prevalent

on Gallery Walk, where the coincidence
of a large number of disparate functions
necessitated a sophisticated visual syntax
to give each its due legibility. For example,
the two theatres are identifiable by their
black stone cladding which wraps the entire
volume from outside in, but the divergence
in their finishes - polished gabbro for the
drama theatre and flamed limestone for

the multimedia theatre - representing their

commensurate functions while maintaining
their distinction.
The changing character of materials during
the course of the day and night was also
an important consideration for the Student
Centre. The aluminium, terrazzo and polished
stone reflect sunlight by day, and then glow
warmly under artificial sources at night.

The behaviour of the faades is particularly

noticeable at different times. Controlled
floodlighting is used to render the steel mesh
sunscreens almost completely transparent,
thus allowing the bold volumes of the
changing rooms, Studio 2 and radio pod to
provide a lively backdrop to sporting and
social life in UCD well into the night.

101

102

103

SPORT CENTRE LINK

The Student Centre serves as an important

catalyst to the urbanism of the UCD campus,
not only adding new facilities, but also
enhancing the experience of the existing
ones.
Aerial walkways to UCD Sport and the
original student centre embed the new
building into the established sporting
and social activity, and encourage new
use combinations across new and old. For
example, the new tepidarium can play
an important physiotherapeutic role after

Below Bridge linking UCD Sport

to Student Centre, enclosing part
of the outside wall.

18:00
104

Opposite Arriving in Student

Centre from UCD Sport.

exercise, so its ready accessibility from

around the wider sports precinct was a
design imperative.
The interface between UCD Sport and
the Student Centre encloses part of the
distinctive board-marked concrete of the
1981 buildings faade behind a new glass
wall. This long and tall space is pierced by a
bridge leading directly from the new gym to
the indoor courts. An angular plan blurs the
threshold between new and old, reinforcing
the unity of the old and new buildings.

105
18:00

18:00

Above Polished black granite

encases the reception to the
sports wing, and lines the route
from the original UCD Sport
building to the Student Centre.

106

107
18:00

COMMUTING FACILITY WEST

The ongoing densification of the Belfield

Campus has added significantly to the
challenge of an appropriate commuting
strategy. Existing surface car parking has
expanded over the years in response to
surging demand, but the Belfield estate has
suffered as a result. Fitzgerald Kavanagh
and Partners were asked to develop a design
for facilities to encourage more sustainable
alternatives to travelling to UCD by car,
particularly cycling.
It is envisaged that a set of commuting
facilities will be strategically located

18:00
108

across the campus, the first of which will

sit alongside the new Student Centre. The
multi-storey buildings will include secure
parking for over 600 bicycles with managed
changing, shower and locker facilities;
dedicated coach parking; a bike sales and
repair shop, motorcycle parking and 580 car
parking spaces, ten per cent of which will be
equipped to charge electric vehicles. A new
terminus for Dublin Bus is also integrated.
As a building to encourage sustainable
lifestyles, wall and roof photovoltaic panels
embedded in the faade provide up to 40%

of the buildings energy requirements, and a

glazed exterior admits sunlight deep within
so that artificial lighting is unnecessary for
most of the day.
As the Belfield campus develops to provide
new and existing commuting facilities, the
availability of surface parking spaces will
continue to be reduced. The height models
of the new commuting facilities will be very
important in the public transport connectivity
strategy of UCD.

Above Study of a typical elevation

showing access and landscaping
around the facilities.

Opposite Community Facility

West on the UCD campus
development model.

18:00

Below Impression of the

completed commuting facility,
showing photovoltaic facade.

109

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS
in detail

April 2010

110

111

19:00

112

113
19:00

MULTIMEDIA THEATRE

The academic wing of the student centre is

anchored by a series of cuboids containing
the theatres, debating chamber and lift.
The smallest such volume is the multimedia
theatre.
An intimate scale is well suited to focussed
academic workshops, film screenings and
webcasted tutorials. In order to provide for
both general and academic audiences, the

19:00
114

projection room has been equipped with

a particularly broad range of projection
equipment, from the latest 3D-capable
systems to a 35mm reel-to-reel projector for
the classics. The theatre is also equipped
to record and broadcast live events via the
internet.

115
19:00

19:00

116

117
19:00

THE FITZGERALD CHAMBER

The debating chamber is among the Student

Centres distinguishing features. The need for
a world class debating venue in UCD became
ever more apparent as their teams achieved
international success despite not having a
dedicated facility in which to practice or host.
The UCD Debating Chamber takes as its
precedent the historic spaces which grew
from the rich dialectic tradition at the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. These
spaces are defined by an insular atmosphere
and very high standard of finish. In the
Fitzgerald Chamber, iroko panels line the
walls and ceiling, complemented by red

19:00
118

velvet upholstery. A network of hidden

staircases and leaning rails provide routes
for the spectators and hecklers which have
always formed part of competitive debating.
Frank Lloyd Wrights Unity Temple in Chicago
was another very important inspiration
for the design. The small suburban
church shares with the other precedents a
perceptible introversion and use of precious
materials, but exhibits a unique geometric
rigour and understanding of the human
experience of its inhabitation. These latter
traits have been explored in the Fitzgerald
Chamber through careful regulation of light

ingress, a clear distinction between interior

and exterior and a haptic richness of the
individual finishes.
Technical performance and material
characteristics have been considered
carefully in terms of their versatility,
specifically in the chambers acoustic
isolation and low reverberation time, which
also lend it musical performance. Tiered
seating for opposing debating teams can
retract automatically, creating a modest
proscenium for private rehearsals and
intimate performances.

119
19:00

19:00

120

Above View across Fitzgerald

Chamber from balcony.

Opposite View upon audience

and team seating from balcony.

Left Structural detail of leaning

rails, balcony and retracted
bleachers.

Below Entrance to concealed

corridors and staircases for
hecklers.

75 x 275mm IROKO LEANING RAIL

10mm STAINLESS STEEL ROD
25mm SOLID IROKO PANELS
60 x 120mm STEEL POST CLAD IN IROKO

19:00

COLOURED RUBBER FLOOR

WITH HAMMERBLOW SURFACE
25mm SOLID IROKO PANELS
100mm STRUCTURAL SCREED and 100mm WIDESLAB
EXPOSED CONCRETE FINISH
457 x 191 x 89 mm STEEL BEAM
12.5 mm PLYWOOD

EX. 175 x 50 mm TIMBER FRAMING

RETRACTABLE SEATING

SPRUNG FLOOR WITH TIMBER FINISH

121

DESIGN PRECEDENTS FOR

THE FITZGERALD CHAMBER
in detail

The Fitzgerald Chamber shares with its

Oxbridge counterparts a material richness
and strong sense of the dialectic tradition
which it perpetuates. Rejecting the
superficially historicist character which
some contemporary debating chambers are
adopting, the architects studied a variety of
buildings which are equally warm, functional
and sustainable but which also readily
assumed their place in the context in which
they are built.
Unity Temple (1908), a Unitarian Universalist
church in Chicago by American architect

Frank Lloyd Wright, pursued similar antiimitative ideals and became the most
influential precedent for the Fitzgerald
Chamber in UCD. Wright persuaded his
clients to abandon the familiar little
white New England steeple in favour of
a Modern solution which celebrated the
value of gathering. Unity Temple is at once
introspective and communal, monumental
and human.

No visual connection to the outside places

human activity at the heart of the space,
while the concealed windows and rooflights
create a sense of levity which belies the
volumes modest proportions. In common
with Unity Temple, the finishes are arranged
geometrically and symmetrically. This serves
to lend a sense of order and balance to what
will, at times, become the tempestuous and
frenetic venue for elite debating.

The basalt-clad exterior of the Fitzgerald

Chamber reads as a heavy, solid volume, but
this encases a light and intimate interior.

Right Main facade of Unity Temple.

Far right Pulpit and balconies.
Opposite View from the pulpit of
Unity Temple.

122

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Overleaf View from the pulpit of the

Fitzgerald Chamber.

123
PHOTO COURTESY JAMES CAULFIELD

124

125

SWIMMING POOL
IN 25-METRE SECTIONS

Below Canoe polo club practice

in the divided swimming pool.

20:00
126

Opposite The pool in use in two

25m sections.

Overleaf With the dividing boom

raised, the pool can host two uses
simultaneously.

127
20:00

20:00

128

129
20:00

night

21:00 - 23:59

130

131

THE FITZGERALD CHAMBER

DELIBERATION LANDING

Teams regularly spill from the Fitzgerald

Chamber during the course of debating
competitions to prepare their counter
arguments. The large, furnished mezzanines
outside both levels of the chamber provide
space for groups to gather in relative
seclusion to research and prepare for their
next round.

At other times, these balconies also provide

a new vantage point of the campus with
views over the playing fields to the south of
the Student Centre.

21:00
132

133
21:00

21:00

134

135
21:00

THE GOLDEN RATIO

in detail

Golden proportion is a ratio defined by

the number (1.618033). It arises from the
division of a straight line into two unequal
parts so that the ratio of the whole to the
larger part is the same as the ratio of the
larger part to the smaller. In other words,
so that A is to B as B is to C in the diagram
below.
This simple ratio was first documented in the
4th century BC and its occurrence has since
been discovered in a wide array of biological
settings, including the branching of trees,

arrangement of leaves on a stem, the spiral

of a nautilus shell and the structure of a
pine cone. Also known as Divine Proportion,
the Golden ratio came to be interpreted as
the basis of beauty and harmony in nature,
and since the Renaissance it has dominated
notions of correct proportion in painting,
architecture, music and, most recently, plastic
surgery. Leonardo da Vincis The Last Supper,
Claude Debussys Reflets dans leau and the
Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris all use
golden proportion.

Fib
on
ac
ci

sp
i

l
ra

136

137

THEATRE FOYER

A subtle change in material, level and light

marks the foyer of the Student Centres
performance theatre. As it will primarily be
used in the late evening, a material palette
which retains its warmth in the absence

21:00

Above Audience entrance to

performance theatre.

138

Right The radio pod as canopy

over the theatre foyer.

Opposite Direct entrance to

theatre foyer from Bridge Street.

of sunlight was developed. The yellow

aluminium underside of the radio pod
levitates as a canopy overhead, contributing
to an atmosphere of unfamiliarity to prefaces
the audiences suspension of disbelief.

This separate entrance was also designed

for round-the-clock access to the backstage
areas and media suite upstairs.

139
21:00

CLUBHOUSE BAR

21:00
140

The Clubhouse is UCDs great social

condenser. It offers a place for all the
universitys clubs and societies to come
together in a sumptuous and informal social
venue. The Clubhouse is organised over two
floors in the original Student Centre building:
the larger sports bar on ground level and the
more formal Clubhouse upstairs. An aerial
walkway over Bridge Street links the bar to
Gallery Walk in the Student Centre. There
is also a direct entrance on the northeast
corner of the original Student Centre.

The Sports Bar is divided into different areas

by trophy cabinets, televisions and panels of
American walnut. The space becomes very
flexible, with caf-style seating, lounges,
pool tables and display cabinets celebrating
UCDs sporting achievement each offering
opportunities for different social encounters.
The Clubhouse Bar upstairs combines simple
forms with finely detailed, opulent materials
to give a modern, rich impression. This space
shares the public spirit of the Sports Bar
downstairs, but is also equipped to fulfil
more ceremonial functions.

141
21:00

PERFORMANCE THEATRE

Since its establishment in 1926, the UCD

Drama Society has grown to become one
of the universitys most active, performing
forty plays per year. The new drama theatre
is a prototypical black box theatre with a
proscenium layout and a dedicated green
room.
The performance theatre is recognizable as
one of the stone clad volumes lining the east
side of the centre. To underline the theatres

22:00
142

elevation from the day-to-day drama outside,

it is expressed as an independent and insular
volume. The stone cladding envelops the
entire outer surface, from which the dark
auditorium within appears to have been
excavated.
The backstage prop preparation areas are
accessible around the clock through a
staircase and entrance separated from the
rest of the Student Centre.

143
22:00

22:00

144

145
22:00

22:00

146

147
22:00

PUBLIC SPACES
AFTER DARK

23:00
148

The Student Centre has been placed on a

granite square between the 1964 UCD Sport
complex and the original Student Centre from
2001, among the playing fields at the western
edge of Belfield. By day the area is vital and
welcoming thanks to this dense mix of sport
and social facilities. In the evening, however,
there is little to attract people and the area
quickly becomes alienating and lifeless.

The A day in the Life research highlighted

this disparity, and presented an opportunity
to catalyse a 24-hour vibrancy in and around
the new Student Centre complex. The new
programme concentrates extensive new
facilities, which will attract users around
the clock, across the formerly daytime
use only buildings. Conceptually, the new
building and its surrounding plazas echo the

infinite range of human experience they are

designed to house. The complex composition
of textures, materials and scales define the
perceptive journey through the precinct, and
it is the inventive application of light which
seamlessly transfers their daytime interest
into the night.

UCD nightlife. The Student Centres nightime

guise casts the campus in a fun, lively new
light after dark.

23:00

When lit directly, the glass and steel mesh

facade dematerialises to accentuate the
polychromy and reflective surfaces within.
The brightly aluminium-clad volumes are
given new prominence; the glow of the red
fitness studio tints the granite pavement
outside. Gallery Walks display screens
further illuminate this mesmeric backdrop to

149

AFTER GENERAL CLOSURE

23:00
150

Above Colour from within the

Student Centre enlivening its
surrounding public spaces.
Below The lounge at the
Southern end of Gallery Walk.
Opposite DramSoc and the news
media societies are granted 24
hour access to their prop preparation, editorial or production
facilities via an independent
entrance route within the
performance theatre block.

23:00

Opposite above The combination of street lights outside and

floodlights inside the Student
Centre create a lively atmosphere
for the many people who will pass
through after dark.

151

Left The swimming pool.

Below The lifeguard leaves the
pool hall after all the swimmers
have returned to the changing
village.
Opposite View across Gallery
Walk and the radio pod at first
floor level.

23:00
152

153
23:00

23:00

154

Above The multimedia theatre

after the last daily showing.
Below Colour and light preserve
the safe and fun atmosphere
around the Student Centre.

23:00

Opposite The Fitzgerald Chamber

after the debating teams have left.

155

23:00

156

157
23:00

158

FITZGERALD KAVANAGH AND PARTNERS

_

159

160

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY & APPROACH

Maurice Fitzgerald and Aidan Kavanagh
have been practicing together since
1982. We believe professionalism
and ethics have been at the heart of
the success of Fitzgerald Kavanagh
& Partners, where it is conveyed
through our principles to staff that
the opportunities of all our projects
must be realised and completed with
responsibility.
Fitzgerald Kavanagh + Partners
establish objective criteria from which
to assess quality of design. Subjective
aesthetics apart, the context in which
design decisions are made is a good
guide to the decisions themselves.
Careful study of the brief, research into
user requirements, limits of cost and
construction timing, the organisation of
skills and their efficient management
all contribute towards a high design
standard.
Architecture is first a visual experience,
then an environmental one. All
Fitzgerald Kavanagh & Partners
principles of sound practice have one
objective - to continually improve the
quality of design. The practice has
delivered projects in a wide variety

of environments; urban, rural and

conservation areas. Consequently,
Fitzgerald Kavanagh & Partners has
developed a reputation for producing
elegant solutions to any clients brief.
It has been a privilege to lead the
Design Team and the construction team
on the UCD Student Centre project.
Fitzgerald Kavanagh & Partners are
particularly proud to have collaborated
as a practice of committed individuals to
design and deliver this piece of creative
architecture. We endeavour to foster
a spirit of team work and cooperation
within our practice, to ensure that we
strive to achieve the optimum design
solution for our clients and their project
needs. This project is a realization of
this work ethos, led by Aidan Kavanagh,
with Gerry Murphy, one of our founding
directors, responsible for the conceptual
design and strategy; John Thomson,
Director; and Andrew Howley, Associate
and Project Architect, responsible for
the delivery of all technical and design
production, supported by a dedicated
and talent design studio. We believe it
is a fine legacy to the student funding
of the project and a testament to the
abilities of Fitzgerald Kavanagh &
Partners.

161

FKPS OTHER PROJECTS

WITH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
CLINTON CENTRE FOR AMERICAN STUDIES
_

MICHAEL SMURFIT GRADUATE BUSINESS

SCHOOL LIBRARY
_

UCD GATEWAY MASTERPLAN

_
Program:

100,000 sq.m masterplan for landmark

academic precinct. Designed in collaboration
with Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart.

Status:

Competition 2006; finalist.

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Program:

900 sq. m university library in former chapel.

Status:

Completed 2007

Program:

1,500 sq. m of research, lecture and reception

facilities in a restored 19th century estate
house.

Status:

Completed 2006

POSTGRADUATE STUDENT RESIDENCES

_
Program:

4,600 sq. m of student halls of residence

incorporating the restoration of a 19th century
estate house.

Status:

Completed 2004.

GLOBAL LOUNGE
_
Program:

Interior fit-out providing new social space for

international students and societies,
including meeting rooms and offices.

Status:

Completed 2010

GLEESON ZEN GARDEN

_
Program:

Zen garden situated outside the Global

Lounge.

Status:

Completed 2009

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RECOGNITION

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS

Ligouri House, Proby Student Residences, Dublin

PUBLIC BUILDING DESIGN COMPETITION

Kilkenny Government Offices

DESIGN COMPETITION
Cliffs of Moher Interpretative Centre, Cliffs of Moher

Selected for Exhibition

1st Prize

Entry Commended

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS

Whites Pharmacy, Kilkenny

RIAI CITY QUAYS COMPETITION
City Quays Urban Quarter, Dublin

DESIGN COMPETITION
Fingal County Council Offices

Selected for Exhibition

Premium

Entry Commended

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS

Department of Regional & Urban Planning, U.C.D.
Selected for Exhibition

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS

Food Production Facility, Enniskillen
Selected for Exhibition

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS
Prices Medical Hall, 26 Clare Street, Dublin

NATIONAL HOUSING COMPETITION
Award: Premium

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS
UCD Urban Planning Building
Selected for Exhibition

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS

3 Mews Houses, Pembroke Place, Dublin 2

DESIGN COMPETITION
The Liffey Bridge Competition
Placed entry

DESIGN COMPETITION
Westport Civic Offices
Placed entry

Selected for Exhibition

Selected for Exhibition

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS

New Ward Block, Orthopaedic Hospital, Clontarf

ATHLONE RIVERSIDE COMPETITION

Library and Catering Management Training Centre

Selected for Exhibition

1st prize

RIAI REGIONAL AWARDS

Parish Church, Confey, Leixlip

BUILDING EXCELLENCE AWARD

European Foundation

Selected for Exhibition

Building Excellence Award

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PROJECT CREDITS
ARCHITECTS
DESIGN TEAM LEADERS

Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners

Aidan Kavanagh (Managing Partner)
Gerry Murphy (Design Director)
John Thomson (Technical Director)
Andrew Howley (Senior Project Architect)
Karen Hassey (Project Architect)
Chris Doorly (Site Architect)
Maurice Fitzgerald
Jan Kukula
Susan Tighe
Ronan Cosgrove

PROJECT MANAGERS
QUANTITY SURVEYORS

Davis Langdon

CIVIL/STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
SERVICES CONSULTANTS

Arup

FIRE CONSULTANTS

White Young Green

ACOUSTIC CONSULTANTS

Allegro Acoustics

FAADE ENGINEERING

Billings Design

LANDSCAPING

Stephen Diamond Associates

Commencement on site

November 2009

Substantial completion

March 2012

Project value

50 million

Built floor area

11,000 sq. metres

PROJECT SUPERVISOR
DESIGN PROCESS

Atkins

POOL CONSULTANTS

Devin

GCCC EMPLOYERS
REPRESENTATIVE

Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners

CLIENT

UCD Property Development Company

Martin Butler (Vice President for students)
Eamonn Ceannt (Director of Development)
Dominic OKeefe (Student Centre Director)
Brian Mullins (Director of Sport)
Pat De Brn (Student Union President)
Aidan Grannell (Director Building & Estates)
Lorcan Sweetman (Building & Estates Project Administrator)
Enda Conaty (Project Engineer)

MAIN CONTRACTOR

Walls Construction
Eugene OShea
Adrian Corcoran
Rob Fox
Bernard Green
Joe Hanlon
Brendan Darcy
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This publication owes a debt of gratitude to:

Donal Murphy ...without whose tact and talent, our vision for this book would not have been realised.
Karen Hassey, Gerry Murphy, John Thomson, Maurice Fitzgerald, Colm Redmond, Philip Pettit,
Paul Sweeney, Peter Fitzsimons, Ann Fitzgerald, James Glancy, Margaret Glupker, Anas Alakkari,
Tara Brown, Janet Keoghegan and Stephen Fallon ...for creative thinking at FKP.
James Mary OConnor and Dr Hugh Brady ...for sharing their time and insight.
Maryanne Doyle ...for her tenacity and perseverance in the pursuit of someone elses goal.
James Caulfield ...for his generous contribution from across the Atlantic.
Jill Pitko, Joe Burns and Paul Dunne ...for their conscientiousness and collaboration.
-The Editor

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