Belfield campus horrible???

coverband

Does anyone LIKE the Belfield campus

Raphael

*raises hand*

Breezer

Yep, always have ever since I first saw it in primary school. Wanted to go to UCD because of it long before I knew what course I wanted, happily it worked out that I could do my course there

Although I wish they'd stop cutting down trees.

coverband

Do you not find it windy like the moors described in Wuthering Heights

ant043

Not really. The buildings are really depressing. Its stuck in the middle of nowhere, the usual stuff. The rain the last few days made it even worse.

coverband

Big time ant, makes me anxious

Pride Fighter

I like the greenery. The buildings are crappy but they serve their function.

imp

I like it.

stereoroid

For such a huge campus, it still seems rather... small. I'm a bit annoyed that I've paid this huge "student service fee", yet everything is expensive. (Why do we have to pay for drinking water?)

ant043

went in today to the arts cafe only because i'm doing an elective there. Normally in health sciences but its an even bigger rip-off there than it is in o'briens.

Stepherunie

Ah ther'es fountains in load of buildings etc.

Also I like the campus. Okay it's a wind tunnel but you've got the swans and the ducks.

The irish rugby team train here (my god how that made my day today, all anger for having a lecture in a prefab by richview was assuaged immediately).

I like they way it's spread out - it takes time to get places, you get to see people and stuff, I've loads of mates in UCC and i dunno - I don't like it as much it's all too packed together there.

I also have a thing for the whole communist/ block thing they've got going on. And I love the Health Science building and it's pods.

Pride Fighter

ant043 wrote: »

went in today to the arts cafe only because i'm doing an elective there. Normally in health sciences but its an even bigger rip-off there than it is in o'briens.

I generally stick to the SU shops. I was dissapointed today they stopped doing the whole muffin+coffee thing for 2 euro:eek:

Riamfada

There are water fountains in most buildings. And for those of you who dont like Belfield. Have you been to DCU? DIT? Trinners Arts Block?

Belfield is a paradise if you spend less time oogling the buildings and more time having a laugh

fillefatale

Communist chic is all in at the moment.. well it has been here since roughly the late 60s.
It serves its function.. don't let appearances decieve.

stolenwine

Mostly the campus reminds me of a "blade runner" dystopia, which can be a good or bad thing depending on my mood.

Tom65

I'm convinced that if they gave the Arts block/library buildings a lick of white paint, the place would be improved immeasurably. Unfortunately, the way UCD works nowadays is that they build a new building rather than try and improve an old one

coverband

But Its So Feckin Windy!!!!!

Pride Fighter

Grimes wrote: »

There are water fountains in most buildings. And for those of you who dont like Belfield. Have you been to DCU? DIT? Trinners Arts Block?

He is right, its less of a kip than those kips.

PennyLane

It is insanely windy, but then again, so is the entire neighborhood (she says after cycling to Stillorgan and nearly being blown into a bus). I like the campus itself, I just wish it were a bit closer to...anything.

EamonnKeane

stolenwine wrote: »

Mostly the campus reminds me of a "blade runner" dystopia, which can be a good or bad thing depending on my mood.

hugh brady is definitely a replicant - that smile masking pitiless eyes

Chakar

It's January what do you expect?

arbeitsscheuer

fillefatale wrote: »

Communist chic is all in at the moment.. well it has been here since roughly the late 60s.
It serves its function.. don't let appearances decieve.

What - its function as one giant ashtray?
If that's what you meant then I 100% concur.

What a f**king dump - and this coming from someone who has been here for 5 years. Windy, grey, soulless, poorly designed, poorly constructed. The only brightside is that, no matter where you go after you're finished UCD, there's no way that place will be as bad.

The saving grace is, as ever, the people. The students and the academics and, yes, even a few of the admin staff (it's not their fault the system is in chaos). The people make it. They're why I'm still here.

Breezer

I have to say I've never noticed the wind. The nearest Luas station is 'Windy Arbour' after all though

The older buildings are rather dull, but the newer ones (Health Science, Vet, Quinn, Daedalus, O'Reilly Hall, etc.) are really quite nice I think. The area around the lake is lovely too (apart from the library building). And the fact that all the sports facilities are located on-campus is fantastic.

And the campus is hardly 'stuck in the middle of nowhere.' The country's most frequent bus stops right outside. Several buses go into the campus. Two DART stations are each a 15 minute walk away. The Luas, to my knowledge, is about the same. And most importantly, it's about half way between Dublin (which is our capital city) and my house (which is the centre of the universe)

pretty*monster

I love it.

I love to walk from the arts block to the 46A bus stop via O'Reilly hall. I love the wall outside the arts block with it's shelter for smokers. I love the arts block courtyard when it's not raining. I love the pit on sunny days with a pack of fags and a G&T. I love the forest walks around the perimeter. I love sitting on the grass outside O'Reilly Hall looking over the lake. I love the terrifying massivness of theatre L and the buzz of noise that it produces right before 1st English or whatever. I love Elements and am realistic enough ot be aware that it is not that exprensive compared with prices in the rest of Dubin (they way people complain about the price of a sandwich in UCD you'd swear they'd never bought a sandwich before, stuff's expensive, it's the economy, never fear a recession looms large on the horizon). I love the fifth floor of the arts block, two couches and free tea once a week. I love the masonic symbols in Richview. I love the Belfield fm studio. I've even grown to quite like the library.

Y'all should quit whining.

FionnMatthew

Belfield Campus during the Holidays

PennyLane

Breezer wrote: »

And the campus is hardly 'stuck in the middle of nowhere.' The country's most frequent bus stops right outside. Several buses go into the campus. Two DART stations are each a 15 minute walk away. The Luas, to my knowledge, is about the same. And most importantly, it's about half way between Dublin (which is our capital city) and my house (which is the centre of the universe)

It's not the middle of nowhere, it's on the edge. I do like the frequency of the buses and whatnot, but I'd like it even more if it didn't take an hour to simply walk from city centre. Just speaking idealistically.

Breezer

PennyLane wrote: »

It's not the middle of nowhere, it's on the edge. I do like the frequency of the buses and whatnot, but I'd like it even more if it didn't take an hour to simply walk from city centre. Just speaking idealistically.

I guess, but having it a little bit away from town makes it more like its own little (or relatively big) town too. It also gives it lots of room to expand. I was lucky enough to experience the last days of the Earlsfort Terrace campus, right in the city centre, so I got to see both sides of the coin, and by and large I prefer Belfield. Just one opinion though, there were a lot of people sad to leave the Terrace.

Ballerina

Ive always heard people say that its always particularly windy on campus.....why would it be any windier than anywhere else??

i hated it when i came to the open day, and never planned on going to UCD but now I love it....the appearance of the campus included!

Stepherunie

I work on the wind tunnel/open plan theory.

Namely, the backbone of the college is the concourse with the buildings either side - this acts as a wind tunnel to funnel the wind in a particular direction (or swirling depending on mood).

Then as there is little cover around the perimeter of UCD (probably with the exception of around the Clonskeagh Entrance) and the fact we're near the sea and at the base of a hill, we get a fair breeze from a combination of these factors.

Sheltered: Less wind. Unsheltered: More Wind.

QED.

ashyle

It's all a bit random and higgeldy piggeldy. I really like that new area to the right of the arts block, with the wood and the bamboo etc. The sci building smells. Those cement things on the concourse both scare and disgust me, they are so ugly and I'm afraid they'll fall down one day. But aside from that I like it.

MatthewVII

It's kinda nice. I don't like the buildings (apart from the newer ones). The greenery is nice and the atmosphere of the college is generally good and there's usually something exciting going on. It's well situated in a nice area and has good facilities. I don't see what more you'd want from a college.

gubbie

I adore it. I mean ya, my building is decorated with more concrete and iron then in the whole of Trinity but its atmosphere is great. And I love sitting in the side computer room by the windows and looking out at the sea. I adore the fact that they didn't complete the building so we're probably the only building on campus thats surrounded by grass, which on eng and comm day fills up with giant blow up games. And the design of the eng block is actually fantastic. On nice days the main part of the building is lit up with sun and its so enjoyable getting a sandwich and sitting on the chairs on the second and third floor over looking the main campus, waving to people as they come in. I love how many people are here, because they can't easily just walk off into town and that no matter what time it is you'll always find people you know bumming around. And on a wet day the big concrete thing on the concourse is a life saver. You can get from the restaurant to the church without actually getting wet, but it was definately better before when they were covered in posters so they were really colourful

I miss the Terrace though.

Pride Fighter

Is it me or has it been windier than ever the past few days.

Donald-Duck

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Is it me or has it been windier than ever the past few days.

Its been pretty windy everywhere in Dublin...

Tom65

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Is it me or has it been windier than ever the past few days.

Yeah, since reading these thread it's seems to have got windier...or else I've just noticed it more.


I really do think if they renovated outisde the Arts block - not even massively, just a bit of paint and an extension of what they did already with the decked area - and the area between the lake and the library it'd improve the place immeasurably. Around the Veterinary/Health Science/Computer Science buildings it's really nice. I enjoy the walk from the 46A bus stop at the main gate - I'm pretty horrified they're planting the Brady Bowl on it - because it's actually nice and wooded, and there's always squirrels about (except in the winter...obviously).

I like where Belfield is positioned. Partly because it's halfway between my house and town, but also because the transport links are pretty good. The Dart isn't a massive walk and it's really easy to get in and out of town. My one complaint (and it's nothing to do with UCD, really) is the annoying random timing of the 145 bus. I was waiting over 20 minutes the last few days, watching 46a after 46a go by. Damn you, Noel Dempsey.

ashyle

^^You clearly never have to wait for a 17. Have waited for nearly half an hour a few times. It's so infuriating having to stand there trying not to strangle yourself as 5 no. 10's pass every minute.

Tom65

ashyle wrote: »

^^You clearly never have to wait for a 17. Have waited for nearly half an hour a few times. It's so infuriating having to stand there trying not to strangle yourself as 5 no. 10's pass every minute.

I haven't had to wait for one because I don't even bother . The 17 would be really handy for getting the Dart station if it ever came.

Romantic S

It was built in the late 60s. It was after the Paris riots. With this in mind the man thought it a good idea to build a spaced out soulless collection of gray buildings with no centre focus in the middle of now-where. The succeeded admirably.

stolenwine

ashyle wrote: »

^^You clearly never have to wait for a 17. Have waited for nearly half an hour a few times. It's so infuriating having to stand there trying not to strangle yourself as 5 no. 10's pass every minute.

Welcome to the number 17 haters society. Meetings are held daily at hour long intervals at the number 17 bus stop.

PennyLane

Romantic S wrote: »

It was built in the late 60s. It was after the Paris riots. With this in mind the man thought it a good idea to build a spaced out soulless collection of gray buildings with no centre focus in the middle of now-where. The succeeded admirably.

Not to mention the incredibly awkward step spacing.

Tom65

PennyLane wrote: »

Not to mention the incredibly awkward step spacing.

That is one thing I hate about the Arts block! I've spent nearly two years trying to figure how to walk those without looking strange. Haven't succeeded yet.

Blut

As bad as the parking situation for students is in UCD its still a hell of a lot better than in DIT or TCD...I like that about the campus. That and its only halfway to town so rush hour traffic isnt too much of a problem. That and the lake is pretty in April/September in the sunshine.

Raphael

Romantic S wrote: »

It was built in the late 60s. It was after the Paris riots. With this in mind the man thought it a good idea to build a spaced out soulless collection of gray buildings with no centre focus in the middle of now-where. The succeeded admirably.

Sorry to spoil your fun, but that's an urban myth. See here. To sum up for the lazy, UCD campus design competition was in 1963-4. Paris riots were '68. All of the things attributed to "riot-proofing" the campus were already there before paris.

Bubs101

They're all focused around the underground tunnels

jimi_t

Tom65 wrote: »

I like where Belfield is positioned. Partly because it's halfway between my house and town, but also because the transport links are pretty good. The Dart isn't a massive walk and it's really easy to get in and out of town

Even from the furthest end of campus you can walk to stephens green in about an hour if you take it handy. For the amount of extra space we have compared to TCD (or ye gods, DIT) I think its good going.

stereoroid

I'm getting a bit annoyed at the acoustics in some lecture theatres. Why, it's impossible to hold a private conversation at the back, without annoying everyone else in the room. If it gets any worse, I'd have to recommend...
NOT TALKING DURING LECTURES!
I mean, who needs to sit in a room and be lectured at, eh..?

samsamson

Tom65 wrote: »

I like where Belfield is positioned. Partly because it's halfway between my house and town, but also because the transport links are pretty good. The Dart isn't a massive walk and it's really easy to get in and out of town. My one complaint (and it's nothing to do with UCD, really) is the annoying random timing of the 145 bus. I was waiting over 20 minutes the last few days, watching 46a after 46a go by. Damn you, Noel Dempsey.

20 minutes wait for a 145 is nothing! I used to regularly wait around for an hour in Stillorgan to get back to Bray. They doubled up the amount of busses a while back though so it's much better these days. Well, unless the driver happens to start chatting to a friend before he leaves the depot. God knows how long we'd be waiting then

Tom65

samsamson wrote: »

20 minutes wait for a 145 is nothing! I used to regularly wait around for an hour in Stillorgan to get back to Bray. They doubled up the amount of busses a while back though so it's much better these days. Well, unless the driver happens to start chatting to a friend before he leaves the depot. God knows how long we'd be waiting then

It's not so much the 20+ minute wait the bothers me, it's the fact it says it leaves every 10 minutes (until about 8pm), and no matter how much traffic the is on the road, they don't arrive every ten minutes, or even close to it. Would it really be so difficult to put in the Dart-style boards with the waiting times? I've seen it in so many other cities. In Seattle they have a website called Busmonster. You can check the waiting times for any bus at any stop, or the traffic conditions in any part the city. Hmph. I should be transport minister. :mad:

PennyLane

jimi_t wrote: »

Even from the furthest end of campus you can walk to stephens green in about an hour if you take it handy.

Wow. You must walk extremely quickly. Those of us with shorter legs are not quite so fast.

Tragedy

It's around 3 miles to stephens green from UCD, even power walkers would struggle to make it in 30minutes(though I'd like to point and laugh at them trying)

ferdi

Tom65 wrote: »

Would it really be so difficult to put in the Dart-style boards with the waiting times?

Yes it would. Welcome to Ireland!