DCU to invest €230m in Dublin facilities
Dublin City University (DCU) is to invest €230m over the next five years to transform the multi-campus university and provide a platform to realise its ambitions in research, teaching and learning, student experience and enterprise engagement.
The investment will allow for the upgrade of facilities on the All Hallows Campus and the construction of student accommodation, following the signing of final contracts for the purchase of the campus by DCU earlier this month. It will also facilitate the construction of two new floors on the F Building on the St Patrick’s College campus which will provide additional capacity to support the incorporation of St Patrick’s College, Mater Dei Institute of Education and the Church of Ireland College of Education into DCU.
On the Glasnevin campus, the finance will facilitate a buy-back of existing campus residences and construction of a further 560 on-campus student accommodation. This will bring the total capacity to over 2,200 student bed units across the university’s campuses, helping address the pressing issue of student accommodation across the greater Dublin region.
Eugene O’Callaghan, Director of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund commented, “Education is a key enabler of national competitiveness and being able to provide commercial funding for such a critical part of DCU’s facilities aligns strongly with our dual investment mandate.
“Over the last decade the European Investment Bank has provided more than €10bn for long-term investment in higher education across Europe including nearly €800m for education investment across Ireland. This has backed investment in new schools and third-level institutions in Limerick, Maynooth, Trinity College, UCD and the National Maritime College.”
An IT transformation and teaching equipment renewal programme will provide a state-of-the-art digital campus experience for student and staff alike. The construction of extensions to the Stokes and Lonsdale Buildings on the Glasnevin Campus will provide lecture theatres and classrooms for the delivery of programmes across a range of disciplines, while a refurbishment of Albert College will also provide a new suite of teaching and learning spaces.
A new Student Centre will commence construction in Summer 2016 to create a purpose-built space for students’ social, cultural, global engagement and entrepreneurial activities.
Research and innovation capacity at DCU will be significantly enhanced with the completion of the new 3,000 sq.m. Nano-Bioanalytical Research Facility on the Glasnevin Campus. DCU Alpha, the university’s Innovation Campus, will also benefit from this endorsement by the European Investment Bank and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, as it seeks development partners for the next phase of refurbishment and expansion of its growing tech cluster which already accommodates 35 companies employing more than 350 staff.
This capital investment will complement and facilitate the roll-out of key DCU projects which were announced at the recent launch of DCU/Shaping the Future, an ambitious €100m fundraising drive by the university which will prioritise life-impacting research in the areas of connected health, media, education, conflict-resolution and water quality amongst many others.
