Date: 23.03.19
Meeting point : The Printing House, Trinity College Dublin
Tickets on Eventbrite
11.00am – https://bit.ly/2SFoQol
12.30pm – https://bit.ly/2UpxwRu
The Printing House Square development will be an important new contemporary building for 21st century Dublin; it presents an exciting architecture in combination with a use of quality materials that suit its Trinity context and its close relationship to a series of adjacent Protected Structures.
There are some core design principles that underpin the scheme:
Urban design
The site is at several junctions inside and outside Trinity and works to provide an architecture responding to this important position; it signals the beginning of Pearse Street opening towards Grand Canal Dock and establishes a relationship in its materials with the other significant buildings on the street- Tara Street Fire Station and Pearse Street Garda Station. It is also at the junction of Trinity and the wider city, and develops a change of scale in response to this; it also extends the stone facades of existing Trinity buildings (Botany Bay) to the West.
Plan form
Internally, the scheme divides into two distinct parts- the upper level residential area and the College medical, sports and disability services at lower levels. The building forms a courtyard behind Pearse Street; it presents a relatively solid façade to the street but opens out towards Trinity at the back, surrounding and enclosing the old Printing House. The courtyard plan can be seen as a strategic extension to the sequence of Trinity squares, yet it also acts as a public city square and will serve as a public gateway between the College and the city, bringing increased life to this relatively
dead section of Pearse Street.
Building Character
The form is like a granite rock with an undulating stone roof folded and shaped, reflecting the mountains in distant view to the South and, at close quarters a grouping of ordinary Georgian roofs in the city. It feels like a solid mass excavated and penetrated by opes, routes and ways through. Its materiality reflects its form and location- a boardmarked concrete working plinth supporting a granite upper world- which descends to ground floor to encase it externally, revealing the concrete core at key moments.
Relationship with Protected Structures
Printing House Square establishes a strong relationship between contemporary architecture and the surrounding historic fabric, in particular, the character of the old Printing House within the College boundary. The architecture folds down to provide a more intimate context around the Printing House; adjacent gables do not have windows, allowing the Printing House to retain precedence in the view from New Square and the steps of the Berkeley Library.
Note: All Attendees are required to wear Full Personal Protective Equipment (Glasses and Gloves will be provided on the day)
All AAI Annual Pass Members will be given a Full Refund on the day
CPD receipts can be purchased for an additional €5 on the day
