New DIT Campus - Grangegorman

dubhthach · 22-06-2011 1:12pm

Nowecant, thanks for the update, however in the future could you just post most of these updates into "one update" (to rule them all) instead of multiple bumps.

nowecant · 21-07-2011 6:51pm

While the Sunday Business article i posted above mentioned cranes going up i have yet to see any there. I have however seen a new site entrance being opened on the NCR side nearest where the new HSE Mental Health Replacement Facility is to be placed. At least its movement even if it is slow.

Also apparently sources close to Leo Varadkar, the Minister for transport are reporting that the luas Line BDX will be going ahead... if they are thinking about the big picture this will be great news for the Campus.

"'BDX will be going ahead to serve the Grangegorman campus where all the DIT colleges will be relocated. It's the most deliverable at the moment."

FreudianSlippers · 22-07-2011 12:53pm

I'm certainly for this development going ahead now, but I keep wondering as I go though that area why the culture doesn't exist in this country that you see elsewhere in Europe and kind of cool "lefty" cities in the US of urban re-development.

There are some beautiful houses on the North Circular Road down that area near the park - it's actually a fantastic street as you look down towards the Wellington Monument. In fact, there are also some really nice places on the Old and New Cabra Roads...

I know there is a seedy element there, but it's chicken and egg a bit isn't it? Would regeneration improve the area or is regeneration not happening because of the bad element?

It all raises to my mind, will this development spark or spur a regeneration of that area, or will it simply end up like the Smithfield wasteland?
Also, why does this culture of regeneration not exist in Ireland?

dynamick · 22-07-2011 3:28pm

There have been many Irish regeneration projects with varying outcomes. For a while Temple Bar Properties hosted a long sequence of foreign academics, documentary makers, and government officials to view how they had transformed a rundown area.

Smithfield was part of a less successful regeneration program accompanied by tax incentives, Luas line, cash for physical improvements, arthouse cinema etc

One view of regeneration is that it is a process of taking the poor people in an area and moving them off somewhere else, then doing up their homes and selling them to hipsters.

Temple Bar Properties has social housing - for example in West Temple Bar but they agreed with the council that the flats would be occupied by elderly people and empty nesters to avoid the social problems that accompany the young poor.

Grangegorman is not a bad area at all and the north circular road is not that rough.

FreudianSlippers · 22-07-2011 3:35pm

dynamick wrote: »

There have been many Irish regeneration projects with varying outcomes. For a while Temple Bar Properties hosted a long sequence of foreign academics, documentary makers, and government officials to view how they had transformed a rundown area.

I kind of forgot about Temple Bar tbh.

Smithfield was part of a less successful regeneration program accompanied by tax incentives, Luas line, cash for physical improvements, arthouse cinema etc

I would view this as a pretty poor example of regeneration in comparison to efforts of other cities.

One view of regeneration is that it is a process of taking the poor people in an area and moving them off somewhere else, then doing up their homes and selling them to hipsters.

Temple Bar Properties has social housing - for example in West Temple Bar but they agreed with the council that the flats would be occupied by elderly people and empty nesters to avoid the social problems that accompany the young poor.

I think regeneration of areas is about maximising the space potential of areas and reinvigorating them (for lack of a better word) to make the area more inviting to young couples, professionals and even families.
It involves housing, transport, social and some sense of community.

It's lacking from Smithfield, because if you take one loop out of the chain it fails. Smithfield is an example of high-cost, low-quality apartments, no social life, poor facilities, etc. Basically there was a general mismanagement.

Grangegorman is not a bad area at all and the north circular road is not that rough.

Grangegorman isn't bad I agree, but NCR past there towards the park is not a nice area.
I'm saying that the houses along there are beautiful though and should be restored.

nowecant · 22-07-2011 4:12pm

I think as a regeneration project this might work, in many other projects they hype the fact that simply doing it up and making it a nicer place to live move people will come and increase the amount of activity etc.

This development will literally bring 20,000 students to the area, many will be attending evening class, and there will be a huge amount of jobs not only in the construction but also in the running of the institution. These jobs will be at all levels thus creating a full range for the community.

I believe for a regeneration to work one of the main things is evening and night time activity, from the plan I know they are trying to centralize the activity in the campus to create a better night life for this students, I also hope that there is more life in the surrounding areas of Phibsborough, Smithfield and Stonnybatter

Its also worth noting the majority of local community groups etc. are in favor of this as it has very little direct impact, that is they are not moving people out of their homes and are increasing the amount of amenities.

Regarding many of the run down properties in this area one of the main issues with them is that many of them were bought as investment properties and are now unoccupied, many of those that are occupied are divided into terrible bed sits etc. I believe that with the influx of students looking for accommodation that there will not only be an increase in occupancy as land lords decide to upgrade existing unused spaces but also that a better community spirit will be accommodated, similar to that found in Rathmines.

nowecant · 22-07-2011 4:22pm

The other thing I forgot to mention is the other development work going on which will increases the likelihood of this being a successful regeneration, these include,,,

The building of the national children’s hospital (whether you agree with the site or not, will massively improve that part of Phibsborough. Combined with the likely long term plan to move the Rotunda maternity hospital up to the same site will create one of the biggest if not the biggest and most advanced hospital complex in the country.

The movement of Montjoy Prison, which will also likely go-ahead long term, will also improve the area. That part of the NCR is almost sterile with absolutely no activity.

The development of the Luas BXD line will most likely have a similar effect as the Luas has had in other areas it has serviced.

The development of the Constitution hill Dublin Bus garage (which from some of the videos of the Grangegorman development looks like a likely stage 2 addition to the new campus)

Rock of Gibraltar · 22-07-2011 5:56pm

Is there any talk of doing something with the old Broadstone Station to complement the new campus. Other than the luas line
Seems like an enormous waste of space and of a building to have the Bus Eireann depot in there. Given it's central Dublin location.

Pete_Cavan · 22-07-2011 6:24pm

Rock of Gibraltar wrote: »

Is there any talk of doing something with the old Broadstone Station to complement the new campus. Other than the luas line
Seems like an enormous waste of space and of a building to have the Bus Eireann depot in there. Given it's central Dublin location.

Im sure CIE has many hair-brained plans for Broadstone Station, all of which have the same objective; making sure nobody else gets to use it. CIE dont want anyone else on their patch. IR even have their own plans for the Broadstone line trackbed to make sure that RPA dont get to use it for the Luas. Im sure any plans to do anything with the station will be met with plenty of opposition from CIE.

nowecant · 22-07-2011 7:04pm

I have not heard or seen any mention of it. However from looking at the videos about the project it looks like there has been some planning for future integration with this site. If you take a look at the 2008 video here in the first minute where the hand comes up there are a few access points to the campus, which cut across the Broadstone bus garage.

There is the main entrance which seems to be exactly where there Maxoil stations is on Constitution Hill, there is also a second one which exists the site in the north east corner near "Marne Villas" off "Rathdown Road" and comes out on Phibsborough Road. I believe from looking at the map that this will be beside a small church south of "Monck Place" This will break up the bus garage and frame the site for future development. This entrance would be perfect for any students trying to access the college from the Phibsborough direction.

Also if you look to the end of this video, about a minute from the end id say there is a section about the Broadstone entrance, they call it "Key Master plan Principle 6 Broadstone: A City Space" when the video changes over to the artists view of the entrance it appears that there is a lot more development of the buss garage than a simple entrance.

The recent 2011 video here also seems to suggest future expansion into the bus garage.

I do remember hearing something once about CIE/Iarnród Éireann not wanting to give RPA and Luas access to the site saying that they had long term plans for reintroducing the railway there. However the Minister for transport at the time... Seamus Brennen I believe came out strongly against their idea.

nowecant · 22-07-2011 7:07pm

Also I just noticed while looking at Google maps that it appears some work has already taken place on the site. By looking at google street view at the top of Mornign Star Avenue the site looks like it has been cleaned up and has heave construction equipment there. I have no idea how long ago these pictures where taken though.

nowecant · 22-07-2011 7:20pm

nowecant wrote: »

Also I just noticed while looking at Google maps that it appears some work has already taken place on the site. By looking at google street view at the top of Mornign Star Avenue the site looks like it has been cleaned up and has heave construction equipment there. I have no idea how long ago these pictures where taken though.

I just seen this when going a quick search. At least its building work on the site! The project comprises demolition and associated activities but the main works consist of the permanent removal of two invasive plant species, namely Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotwood.

You can see an aerial view of this site here with pictures of what it currently looks like and what the site is meant to look like.

nowecant · 26-07-2011 2:01pm

Some very good news on this

"CITY councillors last night approved the framework for the development of the new €480m Dublin Institute of Technology campus."

I will have to take a look at the An Taisce objections at a later stage

Cathaoirleach · 26-07-2011 2:10pm

some local residents have objected to buildings which would rise to 16 storeys.

:rolleyes: ffs.

markpb · 26-07-2011 2:20pm

Rock of Gibraltar wrote: »

Is there any talk of doing something with the old Broadstone Station to complement the new campus. Other than the luas line
Seems like an enormous waste of space and of a building to have the Bus Eireann depot in there. Given it's central Dublin location.

It's also a DB depot too and, while it ain't pretty, having depots close to the city centre is very useful.

dowlingm · 26-07-2011 3:38pm

I'm a bit sceptical about the 16 floors thing actually (I work on the 39th floor of a commercial building so I have no problem with heights per se).

First off, a group of towers in a low rise streetscape can be jarring. We're not talking about docklands or somewhere else where there are pre-existing 8-10 storey structures. A lot of people in Toronto like the "towers in the park" (usually beside subway stations) but I think it's odd looking to have random clusters of buildings like that.

More importantly though, I'd be interested to know what would be going on the upper floors of these buildings. Undergrad students have to bounce from place to place during their day, so elevator capacity could quickly become saturated from xx.50-xx.05. Maybe it would work for postgraduate or administrative office space but for lectures, labs, libraries etc those should be on lower floors. There should also be interconnects between buildings at +2/+3 level (similar to the ones in UL) and/or basement concourses so that students can go between buildings without saturating lobby areas during working hours.

munchkin_utd · 26-07-2011 11:39pm

the Ashby Building for mech eng in Queens is 10 storys and there was never a massive problem on lift capacity when I was studing there.

That said - it's about planning!
The main big lecture theatre and computer labs were on the bottom floor and if I remember right any other large-ish lecture theatres also only on the lower floors so also doable by the stairs if you are stuck, with upper floors being research labs and offices.

The canteen was in the basement along with more research labs.

So 10 storeys if very doable once you have the business end of things in the first few stories.

eia340600 · 27-07-2011 2:03pm

dowlingm wrote: »

I'm a bit sceptical about the 16 floors thing actually (I work on the 39th floor of a commercial building so I have no problem with heights per se).

First off, a group of towers in a low rise streetscape can be jarring. We're not talking about docklands or somewhere else where there are pre-existing 8-10 storey structures. A lot of people in Toronto like the "towers in the park" (usually beside subway stations) but I think it's odd looking to have random clusters of buildings like that.

More importantly though, I'd be interested to know what would be going on the upper floors of these buildings. Undergrad students have to bounce from place to place during their day, so elevator capacity could quickly become saturated from xx.50-xx.05. Maybe it would work for postgraduate or administrative office space but for lectures, labs, libraries etc those should be on lower floors. There should also be interconnects between buildings at +2/+3 level (similar to the ones in UL) and/or basement concourses so that students can go between buildings without saturating lobby areas during working hours.

The only tall building will be used for student housing.It's a focal point at "Library Square" and at a mere 40 something metres I can't really see it standing out too much.

FreudianSlippers · 27-07-2011 6:29pm

For the life of me I'll never understand this aversion to tall buildings in Ireland

Aard · 27-07-2011 7:10pm

People looking over you in your back-garden, doing ... back-garden-y things.

dowlingm · 28-07-2011 6:20pm

except that's more a problem with midsize buildings - big enough to see over the fence, not so big that people look like moving grains of rice

gjim · 28-07-2011 7:54pm

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

For the life of me I'll never understand this aversion to tall buildings in Ireland

I guess we were influenced by seeing the damage caused to many medium sized UK cities by plonking completely out-of-scale tall buildings in random locations. Many such tall buildings now look incredibly dated and are accepted as having damaged long existing urban fabric.

It's best to cluster tall buildings together but unfortunately the opportunity to create a high rise perfectly located quarter in the city was lost by the DDDAs insistence on relatively low height limits. The docklands should have been laid out to accommodate a grid of 10+ story buildings but instead we got a lot of bland medium/low height officepark type buildings.

nowecant · 08-08-2011 5:31pm

Just found an older article in Science Spin in relation to the new campus if anyone’s interested. http://www.sciencespin.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/

This has a very good map of the proposed campus with entrances to the grounds. However what intrigues me most as i mentioned earlier is the possibility of an additional entrance on Phibsborough Road between the Fire station and Grangegorman Church.

Its marked on the map as a green line which extends north towards the proposed Grangegorman Luas stop. It then continues east across the bus garage and then over towards the Blessington street basin.

Has anyone got any thoughts on this? Am I reading to much into a line on a map?

nowecant · 12-08-2011 10:38am

While I’m not happy that its being reported that both the metro north and the dart underground are to be dropped or "deferred" it looks like the Luas line BXD which links both the existing lines and continues through to the new Grangegorman site and then links up with the Maynooth line at Broombridge will go ahead.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0812/1224302301839.html

Good news for the college and for staff and students in the future.

Pete_Cavan · 12-08-2011 6:49pm

nowecant wrote: »

Good news for the college and for staff and students in the future.

Even better news;

http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG255815

Only a PIN for now but it says "It is anticipated that a contract notice will be published shortly".

nowecant · 29-08-2011 12:32pm

Some more very good news for the Campus

"Few object to ‘urban quarter’ for DIT campus"

If I remember right the submissions are on the GDA website, i might take a look in detail at them later to see what the particular problems are

dubhthach · 29-08-2011 12:49pm

nowecant wrote: »

Some more very good news for the Campus

"Few object to ‘urban quarter’ for DIT campus"

If I remember right the submissions are on the GDA website, i might take a look in detail at them later to see what the particular problems are

I read that article in SBS yesterday, when it says:

and a major community and recreational resource for locals.

What specific resources are planned for local community etc.

nowecant · 30-08-2011 10:21am

I know there is a new Educate together primary school, i think two large playgrounds and local library. I believe that local kids are to be getting access to some of the sports facilities such as the pool etc at certain times of the day, weekend and summer etc.

There are other facilities but i just forget what they are.

nowecant · 04-10-2011 10:33am

Not much of an update but ARUP have been awarded the contract to provide what appears to be a significant amount of the engineering services for the new campus.
http://www.arup.ie/index.jsp?p=100&n=104&a=384

"The launch is a step closer to making the campus masterplan a reality, with the ambition to have 15,000 students on campus by 2016 which represents 70% of the DIT student population"

Not sure if this is achievable but at least its a date which they have been given to work to.

Anyone else have any info on the developement? its hard to find anything at the moment.

nowecant · 03-11-2011 2:16pm

Might be of some interest

Irish Times - Institutes bid for status as 'technological university'

nowecant · 03-11-2011 2:51pm

Lots of information here about the proposed alignment of the Luas near the new campus, the Broadstone Luas stop and the proposed Grangegorman Luas stop

http://www.dublinluasbroombridge.ie/#Alignment_and_Property_Details

darragh16 · 04-11-2011 12:16am

nowecant wrote: »

Lots of information here about the proposed alignment of the Luas near the new campus, the Broadstone Luas stop and the proposed Grangegorman Luas stop

http://www.dublinluasbroombridge.ie/#Alignment_and_Property_Details

I really hope this LUAS connection gets given the go-ahead in next months budget. If they provide the connector between the two Luas lines but will also give a connection from the city to GG. A far way off from it happening at the moment though

nowecant · 10-11-2011 10:05am

Early report but still not good news

"New site for DIT faces the axe in cutbacks"

nowecant · 10-11-2011 1:13pm

Not good. Hopefully further details will come later

"Deferred projects include Metro North, DART underground, the prison at Thornton Hall and the Grangegorman DIT single campus project.

However, the so called BXD project to link the two Luas lines and extend the service to Broombridge will proceed."

RTE Report Grangegorman single campus to be deferred

nowecant · 10-11-2011 1:40pm

Confirmation its to be delayed

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1110/breaking21.html

nowecant · 10-11-2011 4:59pm

Sorry for the series of posts today but the news on this subject is comming in bits and pieces.

Irish Times "DIT hopes to proceed with Grangegorman"

Im not really sure of how they plan on doing this unless they are going to go down the root of selling naming rights to classrooms etc but I am happy they are not giving up. Hopefully there will be clarification over the coming weeks.

"Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) says it hopes over half of its activities will be based in the new Grangegorman campus by 2016 despite the scaling back of Exchequer funding announced today.

The Grangegorman project and a series of third level building projects - where contracts have not been finalised -are the main casualties of the revised capital spending programme.

DIT today reaffirmed its commitment to its ambitious plan for the 73 acre site in north Dublin.

Originally, the institute hoped to relocate all of its 39 buildings in Dublin city to Grangegorman. Today, it said it hoped that more than 50 per cent of its activities could be based at the new campus within five years.

DIT said it would look to private sources for funding to proceed. It is by no means clear if such funding will be available.

"Unfortunately, in relation to DIT’s Grangegorman campus development, Exchequer infrastructure investment will be postponed for the lifetime of the investment framework,” Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said. “Planning will take place towards an initial public private partnership project, for possible completion in 2017."

nowecant · 11-11-2011 11:57am

Irish Times - Howlin cuts reduce next year's capital spending by €755m

"Among the major projects which have been deferred indefinitely are:
* Metro North and Metro West
* The underground Dart
* Thornton Hall Prison
* The new DIT campus at Grangegorman in Dublin
* The Western Rail Corridor"

Irish Times - Institute to continue campus project despite funding cuts

SEÁN FLYNN, Education Editor
EDUCATION: DUBLIN INSTITUTE of Technology (DIT) says it hopes more than half of its activities will be based in the new Grangegorman campus by 2016 despite the scaling back of exchequer funding announced yesterday.

The implementation of the Grangegorman project and a series of other proposed third-level building projects – where contracts have not been finalised – are the main casualties of the revised capital spending programme in education. New law and medical schools for UCD and a medical school for NUI Galway will not receive State support.
Work has already begun on the UCD Sutherland law school, which is largely supported by private funding. UCD said it was “disappointed’’ with the decision last night.

DIT president, Prof Brian Norton, expressed his disappointment, but said he was also heartened by the Government’s continuing support for the project and for elements of it that involve public-private partnerships (PPP).

Prof Norton said the institute remained committed to its ambitious plan for the 73-acre Grangegorman project in north Dublin. Originally, it hoped to relocate all of its 39 buildings in Dublin city to Grangegorman; it hopes more than 50 per cent of its activities can be based at the new campus within five years.

DIT said it would look to private sources for funding to proceed with the Grangegorman project.

Prof Norton stressed the project had been designed around a range of flexible building packages to match available funding. “Exchequer funding is one important element but other essential funding for the project arises from leveraging savings on the rent-roll for existing properties, sale of DIT-owned properties, PPP bundles and privately funded elements through philanthropy.”

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said that “unfortunately, in relation to DIT’s Grangegorman campus development, exchequer infrastructure investment will be postponed for the lifetime of the investment framework and planning will take place towards an initial public private partnership project, for possible completion in 2017”.

Overall, the Department of Education will receive €440 million annually for capital projects over the next five years – down from about €500 million this year.

....(lots about building more primary and secondary schools).........

Higher education capital investment projects with existing capital commitments in place will be completed. These include the UCD science centre, the University of Limerick medical school, NUI Maynooth’s library project and the new campus development at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.

RTE - DIT hopes to proceed with Grangegorman campus

DIT has said it is determined to press ahead with developing a campus on the 73-acre Grangegorman site. (also with podcast from DIT President Brian Norton)

G_R · 11-11-2011 7:23pm

I'm just going to copy and paste a post I made in the DIT forum, it may be of some interest to people here:

I was actually at a Student Conference this morning, and Prof. Norton was in attendance. We had a chance to ask him some questions, and Grangegorman was very much to the forefront of the discussion, understandably.

He said that the media has sensationalised it a lot and confirmed that the development will take place.

He said that only about 20% of the funding was coming from the government. The source of the other 80% was still being sourced as originally planned.

Aside from that, it hasn't been scrapped, it has been delayed by 1 year. Payment will be made for the project, only it will be one year later than was originally planned. Grangegorman is a priority one project for the Government, and the minister said as much in his speech yesterday if you read the full transcript and not just the bit that was aired on TV.

Prof. Norton also said that it won't delay the project by much at all, as they are simply going to reschedule the building works.

Another point he mentioned is that the college already has a substantial amount of money in the bank for use on the development, and that the An Board Pleanala hearing will be in the very near future, within the next two weeks, he didn't have the date to hand.

The rest of the conversation we had with him was under Chatham House Rules, so I can't go any further into what he said.

TL;DR - The project is still progressing, however it will be in a slightly different order to what was originally planned.

nowecant · 24-11-2011 12:41pm

Ok, this has gone a bit mad now

As the hearing opened shortly after 10 am a participant, who gave his name to the hearing as William Gorman, asked the inquiry inspector to make a rule that all parties give their evidence under oath.

Mr Gorman said he was asking this because he had learned in recent days that the Garda Commissioner had asked members of the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation to look at aspects of the development. Mr Gorman said he had also learned the Revenue Commissioners were inquiring into aspects of the development.

IrishTimes DIT Grangegorman hearings open

nowecant · 24-11-2011 7:05pm

nowecant wrote: »

Ok, this has gone a bit mad now

IrishTimes DIT Grangegorman hearings open

Not really sure what is going on here but it appears the Irish Times have changed the original article. It now has no reference to the above paragraph. However if you put it into Google search the original is still cashed, an image is here

Anyway, news on the An Bord Pleanala hearing can be found here (same address) http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1124/breaking27.html

RTE also have news at http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1124/grangegorman.html

nowecant · 25-11-2011 10:59am

DIT still insisting that it will go ahead

[SIZE=-1]Irish Times - [/SIZE]Flagship DIT site to proceed if planning granted
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE]Irish Independent Private Backers for DIT Campus
[SIZE=-1][/SIZE]

robd · 25-11-2011 12:55pm

nowecant wrote: »

DIT still insisting that it will go ahead

[SIZE=-1]Irish Times - [/SIZE]Flagship DIT site to proceed if planning granted
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE]Irish Independent Private Backers for DIT Campus
[SIZE=-1][/SIZE]

I don't see why not. DCU managed to build their campus in relatively tough times without a specific overall grant to do so. Was built building by building in an Easterly direction. Wasn't the most pleasant place to be when construction was in full swing but they did it. That's not to say they didn't get grants for individual projects/buildings.

nowecant · 16-04-2012 2:42pm

Seen this and thought i would update the thread

HSE hand over Grangegorman to DIT
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:19 pm.

Written by contributor

Words by Louisa McGrath

The Health Service Executive (HSE) signed the Grangegorman site over to DIT earlier this month.

The site was home to Ireland’s oldest public psychiatric hospital and looked after patients for over 200 years.

It housed 2,000 patients from all around Ireland at its peak. This number fell to under 100 in recent times due to a new system of local care. Plans for Grangegorman to become the new, single site of DIT were then developed in 1999.

http://www.edition.ie/news/hse-hand-over-grangegorman-to-dit-340

nowecant · 14-05-2012 3:00pm

The good news has just been anounced:)

€500m centralised DIT campus at Grangegorman gets go-ahead

The €500m development of a centralised DIT campus in Grangegorman has been approved by An Bord Pleanála.

But the board ruled that three proposed buildings of between 12 and 15 storeys high will have to get separate planning permissions because of their potential impact on the city skyline.

The Grangegorman Development Agency says it plans to proceed with the development through its own private funding despite the government withdrawing its financial backing.

Its plans to have 10,000 students - about half of all DIT's total - on the site by 2017.

The plan to move the 39 different DIT colleges situated around Dublin into one campus has been in the pipeline for nearly ten years.

The plan involves development on part of 75 acres of grounds at St Brendan's psychiatric hospital.

It will involve the third-level facility, healthcare facilities and a primary school and include three buildings between 12 and 15 stories high.
Local residents objected to the height and density of the development and say that the plans are too vague.

In its approval the board made a number of conditions designed to improve access, ensure the renovation of protected buildings on the site and lessen the impact on local residents.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0514/500m-dit-campus-at-grangegorman-gets-go-ahead.html

nowecant · 14-05-2012 3:02pm

Same story in the Independent

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/education/latest-news/500m-grangegorman-dit-campus-gets-green-light-from-an-bord-pleanala-3108471.html

monument · 14-05-2012 3:09pm

Here's the ABP reports http://www.pleanala.ie/news/ZD2005/ZD2005.htm

nowecant · 14-05-2012 4:06pm

monument wrote: »

Here's the ABP reports http://www.pleanala.ie/news/ZD2005/ZD2005.htm

The 2 maps at the end of the "Board Order" document clearly show where changes have to be made to the plans. I will need to take a proper look at these later but at the moment I think its great news.

I did find a document recently detailing an amended timeline for the movement of students and lectures to the new campus. Obviously there will be a long lead in and the first few years there could be a bit lonely but in the future it should have a great atmosphere. When I find it again ill repost.

monument · 14-05-2012 4:20pm

One of the main changes is access to the west / to Prussia Street is a requirement, not just the vague notion that it was before.

Here's the maps:

nowecant · 14-05-2012 4:41pm

A more comprehensive article in the Irish Times

Monday, May 14, 2012

DIT site at Grangegorman approved

An Bord Pleanála has approved the development of a €486 million centralised Dublin Insitute of Technology (DIT) campus at Grangegorman in Dublin.

The blueprint for a new “urban quarter” and campus was approved by Dublin City Council last July but it was subseqently appealed to the planning board by local residents, who raised concerns about the height of some of the buildings among other issues.

Today the board ruled that three proposed buildings of between 12 and 15 storeys high will require separate planning permissions because of their potential impact on the city skyline.

The original plan would have allowed the construction of buildings of up to 50m in height on the 70-acre former psychiatric hospital site between the north city neighbourhoods of Phibsboro, Stoneybatter and Cabra.

In its decision today, the board said it had concluded that the draft planning scheme, with modification, "would not be likely to have significant effects on the environment".

It said that subject to modifications it set out, the planning scheme complied with the statutory requirements set out under the site's designation as a Strategic Development Zone, and provided for the "comprehensive planning and development" of the site.

"The draft planning scheme would, therefore, be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area," it said.

Grangegorman Development Agency chief executive Michael Hand told a planning hearing last year there had been much said in the media about the decision of the Government to postpone funding for the project.

But he said Exchequer funding for the redevelopment would amount to 20 per cent of the development, and he quoted Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn to the effect that the Government "is committed to the long term funding of this project”. He said there were “multiple” avenues of funding which could be tapped to relocate constituent colleges of DIT; establish a range of HSE healthcare facilities on site, and create a new urban quarter.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0514/breaking38.html

Business and Finance

DIT development plan gets green light
14 May 2012 16:19
An Bord Pleanála has given the go ahead for the construction of DIT's planned new campus in Grangegorman in Dublin City.

The 73 acre development, which will incorporate a major education and health campus, as well as sport, recreation and other public amenities, is the first to be approved as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) in Dublin City. The SDZ designation is available only to major projects which are deemed to have national social and economic importance.

Mr. Michael Hand, CEO of the Grangegorman Development Agency , said the decision reflects the significance of the Grangegorman site and the surrounding area.

“This project will have a transformative effect on the city of Dublin, as well as contributing an employment stimulus to the construction industry in particular. It was important that the overall development was agreed from the outset to ensure that it is in keeping with the Development Plan for the city and so that everyone knew exactly what would be built on site.”

Hand also said that following the decision work on the the first phase of development could begin immediately.

The Grangegorman Development Agency has pledged to push forward with the planned campus despite the Government withdrawing financial support for project as part of cuts to capital expenditure announced last year.

http://www.businessandfinance.ie/cat_news_detail.jsp?itemID=4385

I think the statement by Mr. Michael Hand, that work would begin immediately on the first phases of the development is great news. Hopefully we will see enabling works on site within a few weeks with construction work starting during the summer.

zom · 14-05-2012 5:04pm

Anyone knows architect involved?

New DIT Campus - Grangegorman

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