UCD Health Sciences Centre

Site & Context
The Health Sciences Centre in UCD is constructed on a former surface car park adjacent to the Science Faculty building and the Conway Research Institute on the Belfield Campus. The centre brings together the various schools of the historic Faculty of Medicine from remote locations around the city, including Earlsfort Terrace, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, St. Vincent’s Hospital, St. Michael’s Hospital Dun Loughaire and St. John of God’s Hospital Stillorgan.

Concept & Realisation
The brief for the centre was the integration of the four schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Diagnostic Imaging, Physiotherapy, and Medicine in one collegiate setting promoting a fresh learning atmosphere conducive to furthering the development of multi-disciplinary teams necessary in health care today. The brief was later expanded to include the Medical Bureau of Road Safety.

The challenge of the masterplan was to create a distinct identity for each school while providing shared spaces and resources which encourage integration and interaction. This was further complicated by the necessity of a phased construction – the masterplan needed to be able to deliver a complete and working building at each stage of the process while remaining flexible enough in form and layout to allow for the accommodation of additional schools on a phased basis. The finished building was constructed in three overlapping phases and even within each phase there were considerable design developments as funding became available. The design has withstood the challenges and has shown to be adaptable and flexible enough to deal with the evolving changes in academic structures within the University.

Central to the teaching philosophy of the schools is the close interaction between staff and student. The staff offices have been located directly adjacent to and in close proximity to the main teaching and laboratory spaces. The provision of student social spaces at key locations within the building allows for this informal interaction.

The Schools provide all essential and necessary teaching facilities for the training of medical professionals both of a practical and academic nature. Teaching methods vary from traditional classrooms, to open access computer laboratories to group teaching with staff. Of specific note are the specialised teaching rooms where practical simulation of clinical practices is carried out in a full-scale model hospital setting.

Design Overview
The aspiration to minimise mechanical ventilation had to be balanced with achieving a compact and robust building form. This was accomplished by arranging the teaching and staff accommodation in 23m deep blocks around a central cloister which in turn encloses the Health Sciences Library. The library thus becomes the functional and figurative heart of the complex. This arrangement allows for natural ventilation to all sides of the building. The main entrance to the centre is located on the eastern elevation, reflecting the direction that most of the pedestrian traffic approaches the building.

The palette of materials and colours reflects the general ethos and language of contemporary architecture on campus and is in accordance with the University Development Plan guidelines. The perimeter blocks are clad with coloured reconstituted stone cladding panels around the main lecture theatres. The first floor contains spaces of a more open nature and as such is predominantly glazed with a high quality double glazed curtain walling system. The second and third floors are clad in a mixture of white reconstituted stone panels with recessed areas in curtain walling. In addition some areas of coloured glazed brick are used to ground floor elements such as the Faculty Offices and student social spaces. The building has a predominantly flat roof with a bonded membrane on concrete and metal deck roofing. The library emerges as a glass box from the centre of the scheme - a glued laminated portal frame supports double glazed walls and saw tooth roof.

Photograph by: Anew McKnight - Murray O'Laoire Architects

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