New Campus Project Scoops Major International Award
At a major international architectural ceremony hosted in Washington DC on the 18th May 2012, the Dublin Institute of Technology’s (DIT) plan for their new campus at Grangegorman in Dublin City received an honour award for excellence in Regional and Urban Design.
It was an extraordinary couple of days for the Grangegorman project at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) annual convention in Washington DC. There were over 17,000 attendees at the convention and the project was extremely well received at both the awards ceremony and at a special event hosted by the Irish Ambassador at the Embassy. Each year, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) makes its Institute Honour Awards to reflect the highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in three categories -- architecture, interior architecture, and urban design. The DIT Masterplan was chosen from over 700 submissions and as one of just 27 projects throughout the world to be honoured with this prestigious award.
At the award ceremony, Mr. Michael Hand, CEO of the Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA), said that “all the stakeholders of the Grangegorman project are thrilled to be recognised by such an august, international Institute such as the A.I.A, the project was now ‘shovel ready’ and an enabling programme of work can start on site almost immediately”.
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Irish Ambassador to the USA, Michael Collins with Professor Brian Norton, President of DIT |
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The award presentation coincided with the announcement of the Irish planning authority’s (An Bord Pleanála) decision to approve planning permission for an integrated campus that will accommodate 422,300 square meters of academic and residential buildings uniting all existing DIT academic activities and offering a range of new facilities.The Grangegorman Masterplan - designed by Moore Ruble Yudell, with their Irish partners on the project, DMOD -- represents the largest higher-education campus development ever undertaken in the history of the state of Ireland, creating a vibrant new urban quarter for Dublin’s north inner city. At the ceremony, DIT President, Brian Norton said “The planning decision reflects the significance of the Grangegorman site and the surrounding area. Strategic Development Zone designation is available only to major projects which are deemed to have national social and economic importance”.
The development will include sporting and recreational amenities, performance and exhibition space, industry incubation and innovation space. It will also encompass significant student residential accommodation along with replacement psychiatric facilities and new primary care facilities for Ireland’s national health care service, the HSE. There will also be new amenities integrating the local community and the wider surrounding city.
(Left to right) Jeffery Potter, AIA; Dr Noel O Connor, DIT; Prof Brian Norton, DIT; Michael Hand, GDA; John Ruble, Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners; James Mary O' Connor, Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners and Robert Ivy, CEO, American Institute of Architects
For further information see http://www.dit.ie/about/grangegorman
May 2012
