UCC plan moves closer for 'one of Ireland’s largest academic buildings' in Cork city centre

Artist's impression of the the CUBS facility which will incorporate teaching space, laboratories, meeting facilities, office space and catering facilities on site. Image: Pedersen Focus

University College Cork (UCC) has appointed architects as part of its plans for a brand new building for the Cork University Business School (CUBS), which it has said will contribute to the “regeneration and revitalisation” of the city centre.

The site is at the location of a former Brooks Haughton builder’s yard, between Copley Street, Union Quay and South Terrace.

RKD Architects were the successful tenderers for the contract worth €3.5m, which includes architectural services, electrical engineering servicing and supervision of the design process for the landmark plans. The consultants will also be required to conduct a feasibility study, capacity study, and masterplan for the entire site.

The new site will amalgamate and accommodate all components of the CUBS which is currently dispersed across a number of sites on the UCC campus. It will also complement the Centre for Executive Education which opened in 2018 in the refurbished Savings Bank on Lapp’s Quay.

The CUBS facility will be around 17,000sq m, incorporating teaching space, laboratories, meeting facilities, office space and catering facilities on site.

Planning permission has been granted for a six-storey, 22,700sq m building, but UCC said it has a likely capacity of between 23,000 and 28,000sq m. However, work beyond the current 17,000sq m will be subject to funding. UCC acquired the site from Dairygold for €17.25m in 2019.

In a document outlining the background to the proposed development, UCC said that the new building in the heart of Cork’s financial district “will create an important connection between the school and the local business community”.

“When completed in 2024, this sustainable landmark structure will initially accommodate 4,500 students and 225 faculty staff and will be one of Ireland’s largest academic buildings,” it said.

The new building would have spaces for the study and practice of entrepreneurship, a financial trading floor and a behavioural simulation laboratory for research. “This will provide state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for research on human behaviour and cognition,” it said.

“Equipment to be potentially included in this lab include; eye-tracking equipment, e-prime for psychology research, and BIOPAC equipment for measuring physiological responses to stimuli.” 

Such insights could be used in the fields of human resource management, marketing, health economics and environmental sustainability for business, according to UCC.

Going further, the university said the new building would contribute to the regeneration and revitalisation of Cork city centre as envisaged in the city’s strategy plan and Project Ireland 2040.

“It is envisaged that bringing the Business School into the centre of the city in a publicly accessible building will increase the visibility and accessibility of business education and research collaboration,” it said.

UCC said that the building would have to comply with standards aimed at reducing energy consumption as much as possible. It said the university was committed to green procurement, in accordance with guidelines from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.