College is to add 358 new beds to Trinity Hall (Halls).
Trinity has received planning permission to construct four new accommodation blocks in Halls despite complaints from local residents.
The expansion will add 358 new beds to the student accommodation complex in Dublin 6, increasing current capacity by 36%.
Four staff apartments will also be added to the complex, as well as two new classrooms. These are expected to be used by the botany department, which already manages College’s botanical gardens on the Halls campus.
The new structures will be built on the site currently occupied by Cunningham House, which will be demolished along with the existing sports hall. A new sports hall will be constructed with an adjoining “amenity space” for students.
A number of minor modifications will be made to Oldham House to accommodate for the new construction. Oldham is a protected nineteenth-century building which was one of three original houses making up Halls, along with Greenane and Purser House.
The expansion was first announced in 2018, with construction expected to commence in 2020 and completed by March 2023.
Permission was originally granted to the proposal in August 2020, but subsequently rescinded after being challenged by a local resident in the High Court.
Residents of Dartry have continued to object to the plans throughout the planning process, saying that the addition of new beds will exacerbate anti-social behaviour and noise levels in the area.
Halls currently provides 995 spaces for Trinity students, the majority of which are allocated to first year students, as well as a number of beds reserved for scholars and members of the Irish Language Residency Scheme (An Scéim Cónaithe).
