Project Description
The Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners-designed UCD Student Centre is the new epicentre of sporting, social and academic life in UCD. The project occupies a unique position in the history of the Belfield campus, as both the largest single project since the original masterplan, and the first to be funded entirely by its students.
The complex encompasses 11,000 square metres of student facilities in an iconic, exciting and public-spirited new building by Dublin-based Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners. A 50 metre swimming pool, debating chamber, 150-piece gym, 3D cinema, performance theatre and radio studio, among many others, redefine the standards for Irish university facilities. Sustainability was central to the design, with local materials, international expertise and groundbreaking technologies combined to make the Student Centre one of the most eco-friendly public buildings in Ireland.
New public space around the Student Centre unifies the new facilities with the existing UCD Sport and original Student Centre. Aerial walkways within the new building link the three structures to make a seamless, hybrid sport and leisure complex: a place for everyone.
The design team has prepared a book to explain the intricacies and curiosities of the architecture. The complete publication, with a foreword by James Mary O’Connor, AIA (Principal of Moore Ruble Yudell architects) is available to read for free at http://issuu.com/fkparchitecture/docs/fkp-ucd-student-centre
www.fkp.ie