TU Dublin Foundation Donor Report 2018

Design & Construct
at Broombridge
Driving Performance
through Talent and
Technology
Responding to the needs of the architecture, engineering
and construction sector, TU Dublin is developing Design
& Construct, a centre for collaborative, multidisciplinary
education that will drive performance in the Irish
construction sector through talent and technology.
Building on a century of delivering applied and
practical education for the construction sector
Design & Construct will leverage TU Dublin’s expertise
to address the key challenges of 21st century
construction including the building performance,
energy efficient design and the digitisation of the
construction process. The complexity of modern
construction processes, procurement, technical
design, regulation and standards, requires ongoing
and continuous engagement with education and upskilling.
Changes to the structures of site teams and
methods of construction have created a requirement
for cross-training and cross-disciplinary engagement
and competency.
The Centre will deliver collaborative multidisciplinary
learning for students across all levels
and disciplines from apprenticeship to doctoral
research as well as providing education and
research facilities critical to the next generation of
construction graduates, in technologies such as
off-site and modular construction, near zero energy
building, robotic construction and the digitisation of
the construction process.
With a focus on applied learning, research and
enterprise, this space would bring together students
(from level 6 to level 10) and staff from the built
environment, engineering and design disciplines,
including architecture, architectural technology,
building trades, building engineering, structural
engineering, product, interior and furniture design.
The proposed refurbishment of an existing industrial
building, with large spans and ceiling heights, will
provide the opportunity to create a variety of
teaching and applied learning spaces which will
support building as a ‘living’ construction laboratory,
with students, from apprenticeship to PhD, engaged
in all aspects of the construction process.
Design & Construct is a new way of teaching for
the AEC sector and therefore requires a new type
of space. A flexible, adaptable facility that can be
changed and altered to meet the sector’s needs.
The types of activites planned require for large
unencumbered floor space, triple height, clear span,
with wide openings for easy RIRO (roll in, roll out) of
equipment and to allow for the construction indoors
of large learning environments. The building will be
‘living’ construction laboratory, an exemplar for the
sector encompassing best practice in sustainable
design and construction.