mcculloughmulvinarchitects

Printing House Square, Trinity College Dublin

Printing House Square provides 250 student bedrooms over a Health and Sports Centre for Trinity College. The courtyard plan is a strategic extension of the existing sequence of Trinity squares. It also acts as a new public city square and gateway between the College and the city, bringing increased life to this impenetrable section of Pearse Street.

The form is like a granite rock with a distinctive undulating stone roof. On the grander scale reflecting the mountains in distant view to the South and, at closer quarters, a grouping of ordinary Georgian roofs in the city. The building's materiality reflects its form and location with a board-marked concrete working plinth supporting a granite clad upper world. Occasional glimpses are provided from the courtyard down to the basement levels below.

The building also establishes a strong formal and material relationship between contemporary architecture and historic fabric. The architecture folds down to provide a more intimate context around the Printing House. New windowless gables are articulated as moulded planes setting the Printing House’s Classical temple architecture in a rocky landscape setting, allowing it to retain precedence in views from New Square and the steps of the Berkeley Library.

  • Address: Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2
  • Client: Trinity College Dublin
  • GPS: 53.345226, -6.255212
  • Civil & Structural Engineers: O'Connor Sutton Cronin
  • M&E Engineers: J. V. Tierney & Co.
  • Environmental & Sustainability Consultants: SES Ltd & Cundall
  • Quantity Surveyors: Linesight
  • Fire Consultants: Factfire
  • Landscape Architects: Stephen Diamond Associates
  • Contractors: Bennett (Construction) Ltd
  • Awards: 
    • 2023 Architecture MasterPrize - Winner - Education
    • 2023 The Plan Award (Italy) - Finalist
    • 2023 Mies van der Rohe Awards - Nominated
    • 2023 The Plan Award (Italy) - Shortlist
    • 2023 AAI Awards - Special Mention
    • 2023 World Architecture Festival - Finalist - Higher Education and Research
    • 2023 RIAI Awards - Winner - Learning Environments Award
    • 2022 Irish Construction Industry Award - Winner - Large Residential Project of the Year

Excerpt from "Aerial" - Film produced for Open House with Irish Architecture Foundation

Printing House Square - Drone Video by DBFL Consulting Engineers

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