Trinity has received planning permission to proceed with a restoration project on the Rubrics building that is to provide additional student accommodation on campus.
Dublin City Council has granted planning permission for College to renovate the building to convert offices into residential spaces.
According to documents submitted to the Council, the refurbishment involves “the entire structure and the change of use of some rooms within the building (the area of change of use is 667 sq m or 31% of total floor area)”.
22 one bed residential units and 12 study bedrooms with communal living, dining and kitchen facilities are to be provided.
The accommodation will be comprised of both rooms for students and staff.
“Historic cobbles [are] to be re-bedded, generally to match existing on campus.”
It is estimated that the project will cost €9 million.
Speaking to Trinity News, College Bursar and Director of Strategic Initiatives Veronica Campbell said that College is “delighted to get permission to restore the oldest buildings in the college and some of the oldest buildings in Dublin”.
“This project is long overdue and will bring life back to these lovely rooms,” Campbell said.
In 2019, it was approximated that work on the Rubrics would be completed by the second quarter of 2022 and that rooms would be ready for students to move into for the 2022/23 academic year.
The first construction of the Rubrics building originally began around 1699.
The renovation is to also involve: “Removal of non-historic partitions, forming five new door openings in historic fabric, removal of non-historic concrete paving flags in entrance halls and replacement with cut-stone York Stone flagstones; construction of new partitions to form new accommodation, replacement of five house entrance doors, replacement of two passageway doors.”
Among other construction projects ongoing in Trinity are work on the Printing House Square and E3 developments.
Construction on Printing House Square, which has been knocked back by several delays over the last few years, is expected to be completed for spring 2021.
Accommodation in Printing House Square is set to house 250 students on campus once it is completed.
Demolition works are underway on the east end of campus near the Hamilton building to pave the way for the new E3 Learning Foundry, which is to be a hub for the Schools of Engineering, Computer Science & Statistics and Natural Sciences.
Speaking to Trinity News in November, a college spokesperson confirmed: “Demolition works in the site location for the E3 Learning Foundry are ongoing at present. Works are expected to complete by April 2021 and the main contract works are expected to commence subject to Board approval in June 2021.”
