Dublin Institute of Technology is in the process of building a new campus at Grangegorman in Dublin’s north inner city and as the first instate of students began a few days ago I decide to visit and take a few photographs.
DIT has been an integral part of Dublin for 125 years, not just as an educational provider but as a social and cultural resource. By consolidating all of DIT’s activities into a single campus, the Institute can continue to deliver student-centred education, industry-related research and technology transfer to future generations.
The new campus development will consolidate all of DIT’s activities from 39 separate sites into one single campus by 2020.
The district of Grangegorman in Dublin 7 has a long history in serving the people of Dublin. As the location of a number of state institutions - including a work house, a state penitentiary, and a psychiatric facility - the area had been walled off from the local community for a number of years.
The new DIT campus at Grangegorman will reintegrate the site with the surrounding streets thus driving regeneration in the north inner city.
The development of a 21st century third-level institution on such an historic site will be approached sympathetically and will involve not just building new and sustainable facilities, but restoring existing structures. Conservation, re-use, refitting and repurposing are all key parts of their sustainability strategy.
In 1966 - 1971 I attend Kevin Street College Of Technology and now I live directly across the street from Bolton Street College and both of these colleges will eventually join or move to the new campus. At one stage I heard a rumour that Bolton Street would remain at its present location and that the campus would be expended to cover Henrietta Street and Bolton Street, that would have made sense.
