What are they doing to the old Student Centre and AIB Buildings?

lego

Are they renovating or demolishing them?
If they are demolishing them, they really are taking their time.

gizmo

Well they've been like that since I arrived here and thats like two and a half years at this stage...

It always amazed me that they could be so stupid, a bank made of glass...clever people...:D

rugbug86

i think they should have left them there and converted them into an area with couches and vending machines n stuff!

Mantel

It'd be a small area then. I only noticed what they're doing today. It looks like they've taken apart the bank but seem to be leaveing the pillars and the frame on top of them. The bank used to be like a sauna during the summer, all glass and bad air con.

OFDM

It looks like they're making some sort of dungeon with no windows in it.

rugbug86

thing that surprises me is that they weren't clearing any of the stuff they knocked down. there was piles of old insulation lying around all week!

the rumour was that the college wanted them gone because they block the view of the library...

but if they were knocking them down, surely they would have completly knocked them, not taken them piece by piece...

lego

Maybe they are dismantling them and reassembling them somewhere else.

Behind the library? .

GavMan

but if they were knocking them down, surely they would have completly knocked them, not taken them piece by piece...

You cant just knock a building down. thats not safe at all. you have to dis-assemble the non-load bearing walls in a building so the when u do knock it down, the shell of the building it implodes on itself and bits don't go flying round the place.
plus i think its a disgrace the way those builders left the place in. the should be f**ked off the campus for shoddy workmanship.

Scráib

Those two buildings in the centre of the campus have been scheduled for demolition for years now. The reason for this is not the construction quality of the buildings themselves but the location of them and the library.

When there was heavy building going on in DCU within the last 10 years or so, most of the funding for the construction didn't come so much from the government, but came philantropists who invested in colleges because they believed education was the 'best way for a brighter future'. One guy was a billionaire American philantropist, Chuck Feeney and another was Tony O'Reily.

Anyway a lot of Tony O'Reily's money went into the library (hence his parent's names and bust at the main door). Now we all know the library is a fairly impressive building, about the most spectacular on the DCU campus to be honest, so one of the stipulations of the donation was that it could be seen all the way from the Henry Grattan.

This is when the problems came in, because those two buildings were built, and were in the way of the view. What exactly happened I don't know, but the end result was that the buildings were ordered demolished to make sure everyone could see the library. They've been abandoned and ordered demolished as long as I've been here (I'm a third year now), and it seems work is finally being started on removing them. It would be cool to make a bar or somewhere where the students could relax out of them, but if they did Tony might just decide to pull his funding for future projects.

And that, dear friends, is why those two buildings are being demolished!

gizmo

Pfft, just give me a sledgehammer, a copy of the Sun, bottle of Lucozade and bag of Taytos and a nice hole in the ground to stand around and chat to my mates and I'll have the job done for you in a couple of days....:)

Amz

I'd love a packet of Tayto right now ...

They're really unsightly buildings. Why they're taking so long to demolish them is a mystery though.

rugbug86

the builders are probably getting paid by the day as a pose to by contract.
that'd make me work slower!!

steveland?

Anyone remember the rumour flying around about 2 or 3 years ago the old bank was gonna be a McDonalds... imagine the queues it'd take away from the canteen/ER/Zero 1 etc...

Pity it's nigh on impossible...

Amz

A nice chill out area with couches and stuff would be nice, just a one storey jobbie. Or a coffee place ... Mmm ... Coffee.

steveland?

Amz wrote:

A nice chill out area with couches and stuff would be nice, just a one storey jobbie. Or a coffee place ... Mmm ... Coffee.

Taking the Starbucks out of the main canteen and putting it in there would be a nice little bonus...

Then couches... yes couches...

gizmo

Amz do you know what a jobbie actually is? Clicky!


Aye, a small coffee hut with couches would be nice alright. Anyone here what they're actually going to do with it?

rugbug86

hmmm, single story poo. :rolleyes:

Amz

Faceless Man wrote:

Amz do you know what a jobbie actually is? Clicky!

Trust you to lower the tone.

gizmo

I'll lower anything you want baby...

..I'm not actually sure what that's impling but it made sense in my head...:p

But yea, any word on what they're doing with it? Doubt they'd start unless they had some kind of plan for the site or leftover building...

rugbug86

probably demolition... they'll leave the frames til last... unless we started a petition to get it changed to a coffee house with comfy couches...

Amz

When has DCU ever listened to it's students?

steveland?

rugbug86 wrote:

probably demolition... they'll leave the frames til last... unless we started a petition to get it changed to a coffee house with comfy couches...

If you petition the college make sure to use language that's ridiculously confusing and doesn't actually tell you anything...

It seems to be the only language DCU understands... :v:

gizmo

Aw be nice to poor DCU, what did it ever do to you?

rugbug86

Amz wrote:

When has DCU ever listened to it's students?

eh, the 12th of Never was the last time I believe, or was it the 30th of February...

steveland?

Faceless Man wrote:

Aw be nice to poor DCU, what did it ever do to you?

Ever failed a module (on repeat no less) and had to look through the exam regulations for information on compensation?

My own fault I failed it but try looking up any sort of critical information on the DCU website or receiving e-mails from heads of schools...

Mumbo jumbo everywhere...

gizmo

Never had to deal with that kind of stuff tbh so really can't comment steve. Outside that then, it hasnt been that bad?

Hester

steveland? wrote:

Ever failed a module (on repeat no less) and had to look through the exam regulations for information on compensation?

My own fault I failed it but try looking up any sort of critical information on the DCU website or receiving e-mails from heads of schools...

Mumbo jumbo everywhere...

Gotta agree with this. Same thing happened to me... After spending ages looking for information on compensation I finally cames to the conclusion that I was entitled to it. I couldn't get in contact with the head of my school and when I eventually found somebody to talk to about it I was told that my faculty doesn't allow compensation in repeat exams. :mad: Why can't this sort of information be easily accessable on the website?

Speaking of repeats, whos idea was it to have the final day for payment of fees on the day after the repeat results were issued? Stoopid DCU...

Scráib

But yea, any word on what they're doing with it?

Didn't anyone read my post? Sure it was long but its the truth on why they're being demolished! There'll be no new buildings put up there because they'd obstruct the view of the library.

steveland?

Hester wrote:

Speaking of repeats, whos idea was it to have the final day for payment of fees on the day after the repeat results were issued? Stoopid DCU...

Haha, as someone who's had to endure a LOT of repeats I never, ever understood why they do this

Btw just out of interest, which is the old Student Centre

rugbug86

steveland? wrote:

Haha, as someone who's had to endure a LOT of repeats I never, ever understood why they do this

Btw just out of interest, which is the old Student Centre

the one closer to Res