Dublin Institute of Technology. Grangegorman Campus, Dublin

City Centre Learning Quarter

The decision by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and the Health Safety Executive (HSE) of Ireland to relocate their facilities onto one site triggered a challenging competition to masterplan a disused former mental hospital within walking distance of Dublin City centre.

Metropolitan Workshop organized the multi-disciplinary design team collaborating with O’Mahony Pike Architects, Feilden Clegg Bradley, Camlin Lonsdale and Arup.

Our approach was to retain all of the listed buildings within the 73 acre site and to use these to create characterful places around which we arranged over 450,000m2 of new development. These new places are connected by two routes, the ‘bow’ and ‘bow string’. The bow is the Broadwalk which contours the sloping site, is used by buses, and skirts and preserves the mature tree belt which forms the graceful ‘green room’ of terraced playing fields.

The sweeping bow forms the wide Broadwalk along which all DIT faculties have a front door, as do the HSE facilities. DIT’s recreational facilities are located along the pedestrianised bowstring with the Student Union overlooking the terraced playing fields.

The new Broadstone Station to the east will connect the campus to national rail and Luas, the city tram network. The campus plan has five new streets connecting the campus into the neighboring district’s road network.