A happy day as Printing House Square gets official launch
Posted on: 09 October 2023
"The students bring this place to life and are the heart and soul of it," said Provost Dr Linda Doyle.
Students and staff at Trinity spent the afternoon on Monday October 9th exploring the many services and activities on offer at Printing House Square, the newest major building on campus.
Provost Dr Linda Doyle was there to declare the building officially open, saying: “It’s such a happy day.
"There’s been blood, sweat and tears in getting this building to where it is today and I want to pay tribute to the former Provost Patrick Prendergast for his commitment and effort."
Dr Doyle noted that the building has 249 student rooms, continuing a tradition at Trinity of making accommodation a key feature of campus.
She added: “Accommodation, health, disability services and sport - they are interconnected in this space and I think they say a lot about the kind of landscape we want to offer our students. The students bring this place to life and are the heart and soul of it. “
Staff and students took tours of the new facilities through the afternoon. Designed by a team headed by McCullough Marvin Architects, Printing House Square is Trinity's first new square in 200 years. The building design has won several awards and is nominated for more, including the Mies van der Rohe Award 2023, the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture.
Above: Staff and students enjoy Trinity's first new square in 200 years
Director of the College Health Service Dr David McGrath and the rest of the College health team showed visitors around the new medical centre, with free blood pressure checks, free condoms and free bike lights on offer as part of the Healthy Trinity: Smarter Travel initiative.
Staff and students got to check out Trinity Sport’s range of sports and activities, including squash and handball, with Head of Sport and recreation Michelle Tanner and her team at hand to field questions.
Above: table tennis on Printing House Square
The all new Trinity disAbility Hub, led by Director of the Disability Service Declan Treanor, was also open to introduce visitors to projects including TCD Sense, the DUNeS Neurodiversity Society and the Ability Co-op.
Printing House Square is also home to a brand-new ADHD clinic, offering ongoing clinical care for patients who have an established diagnosis of ADHD.
McCullough Marvin Architects won the competition for the Printing House Square building project in 2015, with a team that included Niall McCullough, who sadly died just before it was completed. The Trinity Project Sponsor was Dr Kevin O’Kelly, who also paid tribute today to everyone who worked on it.
Avove: Architect Valerie Mulvin pictured with Dr Kevin O'Kelly
The building creates a new gateway between the University and the city along what has been, until now, an impermeable section of Pearse Street.
The design team also featured O Connor Sutton Cronin (Civil/Structural Engineers); J.V. Tierney (Building Services Consultants); Linesight (Cost Consultants and Project Managers); Aegis Safety, Bennett Contracting and O Mahoney Pike Executive Architect.
The project has been shortlisted for The Plan Award (Italy) 2023; its other accolades include the AAI Awards Special Mention 2023; World Architecture Festival Finalist 2023; RIAI Learning Environment Award 2023 and Irish Construction Industry Awards Large Residential Project of the Year 2022.
Top caption: Provost Dr Linda Doyle cuts the ribbon at the official opening
ENDS
Media Contact:
Catherine O’Mahony | Media Relations | catherine.omahony@tcd.ie