Science Centre, University College Dublin
UCD Science sub-title
“The largest capital investment in science in the history of the state”.
University College Dublin moved to the Belfield campus in the 1950’s with the first new construction at the time was the 33,000 sq.m Science Centre. This consisted of four buildings interconnected as one structure. Our vision is to use a concept of initiatives and platform to transform the Science Centre into a world class, interactive facility for research and teaching. The Science Centre is a national asset. The development of its people and programs will have far reaching economic and social consequences for generations. The masterplan vision brings together several components:
– Organising the Science Centre around key initiatives and shared platforms
– Populating the Centre as a science community made up of neighbourhoods who interact on a day-to -day basis.
– Encouraging interaction and sharing, by using architecture to improve connectivity, transparency, and sharing of resources
– Developing a new teaching and learning paradigm that operates on individual and group initiative instead of rote learning.
– Having flexible facilities capable of responding to future growth and change.
LINKAGE
All buildings will be linked together by circulation and social spaces, to foster communication and a sense of community.
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability will be a prominent design feature and will use significant energy saving measures. The Science Centre Master Plan goals embrace UCD’s commitment to the reduction of energy consumption, reduction in the University’s carbon footprint, and response to climate change. Energy use is a key issue for laboratory buildings. The Science Centre attracts people who work across traditional disciplines. Some may work within a discipline, and other may work exclusively in a new initiative. In either case, one strength of UCD’s Science Centre is its ability to bring people together from different disciplines. The Science Centre is a community consisting of science neighbourhoods. Each neighbourhood is a working unit of scientists and students who share people, space, and equipment on a daily basis.
The following video, produced by UCD, showcases how the Unviersity utilises the new capabilities provided by the Science Centre to provide world-leading scientific education and research: