New York’s Steven Holl Architects has won a competition to design a new campus at University College Dublin (UCD).
The 24ha site will be based around a Centre for Creative Design, the outline of which is inspired by the basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim and will include a plaza and a reflecting pool.
Holl said: “Our masterplan and the new UCD Centre for Creative Design are not just iconic objects − they reflect on the history and quality of UCD’s campus, responding to the particulars of the site to create place and space.”
Cafés and social spaces will be based near water-retention ponds, sheltered seating areas and preserved specimen trees. An entrance precinct has been designed to enhance the campus’ historic features and woodlands.
A shortlist was announced last month by Malcolm Reading Consultants, which included submissions from Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Studio Libeskind and UNStudio.
Steven Holl Architects worked with Dublin-based Kavanagh Tuite Architects, analysts Brightspot Strategy, structural engineer Arup, landscape architect and urban designer HarrisonStevens and climate engineer Transsolar.
